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THE 



IMPRESSIONS OF THE MINI) 



TO WHICH ARE ADDED 



SOME REMARKS 



CHURCH AND STATE DISCIPLINE, 



AND THE 



ACTING PRINCIPLES OF LIFE. 



BY DAVID WILLSON; 

< » 

t;AST GWILLIMBURY, COUNTY OF YORK, AND PROVINCE OF UPPER CANADA. 



TORONTO 
1835. 



-si**** 






ERRATA. 

Page 15, 10th line from bottom, a period should be after God, and 
not after remembrance in the preceding line. 

21, 21st line from top, lor " cannot," read can, 

32, 11th do. bottom, for " ground," read rose. 

37, 23d do. top, for u slumber," read slumbered. 

40, 5th do. do. for " is the earth," read is in the earth, 

46, 8th do: do. for " plead," read feed. 

57, 21st do. do. for " receive," read relieve. 

63, 27th do. do. for " creature's," read Creator's. 

66, 15th do. bottom, for " those doth," read thou dost. 
111,9th do. top, for " robe," read Rabbi. 
119, 1st line of prose, omit the word not. 
123, 8th line from top, for "are," read or. 
138,18th do. do. for " better," read bitter. 
155, last line, 2nd verse, for "thine," read there. 
198, 4th line from bottom, for "The," read There. 
207, 3rd do. top, for "and the storm," read when the storm. 
213,7th do. do. for " from," read for. 
232, 15th do. do. for " shall seek," read shall not seek. 
237, 2nd do. bottom, for " a universal," read in a universal. 
263, 24th do. top, omit the period after the word government. 
290, 1 3th do. bottom, after " mountains," insert falling. 
330, 12th do. do. for " nest," read rest. 

343, 13th do. top, for "these a with," read these as imth. 



OBSERVATIONS TO THE READER. 



The want of literary qualifications will be seen by 
-every observing reader in the following pages. 1 have 
not set out to please the learned, nor supplicate the 
great. My objecl in the publication of these few 
broken hints to the world, hath been to improve the 
small measure given, that, in the end, I may lay down 
my head in peace with God. J have drawn the follow- 
ing lines from the mind ; and, where an error in senti- 
ment is discovered, I have published the weakness of 
my own mind. I trust a divided world will excuse me 
for my singular deviations in Church and State Go- 
vernment, as a diversity of sentiment is much in 
fashion in our age. I am neither partially affected to 
either Church or Nation, — as I have neither interest 
or honour from either of them. It will be observed 
that my mind is in favour of ancient simplicity and 
plainness of speech. The want of education and lite- 
rary skill has made my sentences but few on various 
subjects, and left the cause naked that I have taken in 
hand. Perhaps the learned may clothe the same sen- 
timents with a more pleasing language, and the Truth 
may live. 



IMPRESSIONS OF THE MIND. 



October 9th, 1832. 

Lord, where the sun hath never shone, 
And where the line was never drawn, 
Where thy great name was never known, 
To thence my mournful spirit's gone. 

Dark are the regions of the dead, 
They 're these that perish in their sins, 
To thence my mournful spirit fled, 
And thence my mournful song begins. 



Lord, I attend with list'ning ears, 
With hope thy solemn voice to hear ; 
My spirit looks with watchful eyes, 
Where nothing, nothing doth appear. 

My hands O God, are spread abroad, 
But nothing, nothing can I feel ; 
I move my feet to find the way, 
That thy great absence doth conceal. 

There's life in death, and hope is there ; 
These watchful eyes shall ever see : 
And God in mercy will appear, 
My spirit, he will come to thee. 



October 14th, 1832. 

Oh Lord, afar I see thy name, 
Bright in the eastern skies ; 

From thence at first my spirit came, 
Thence will thy glory rise. 

A 



IMPRESSIONS OF THE MIND. 

My spirit is a pris'ner, here, 

I struggle in my chain, 
I often shed the languid tear, 

While bolts and bars remain. 

As criminals in thy courts doth stand, 

I live amidst my foes, 
I only wait for thy command, 

From whence my spirit rose. 

Oh Israel's name afar I see, 

Both priests and prophets there ; 

The house of Jacob waits for thee, 
And I'm with them in prayer. 



October 15th, 1832. 

Oh Lord, thou hast shewn forth marvelous light in thy decrees ; 
they are as the sun and stars unchangeable with thee. Thy sons and 
servants are of unnumbered value to us ; they are appointed to teach 
all nations forevermore. 

Thou hast made thy son Jesus, Emanuel, to be as the sun amidst 
stars. So he appeared amidst thy servants, glorifying the deeds of 
ancient days. Blessed be thy name, my Redeemer iiveth, — thou 
art God over all of them. 

Thou canst add or diminish the number of thy servants as thou wilt. 
Thy mercy is ever found by them that seek after it in a needful time, 
i. e., in a time of action. 

Thou made conditional covenants with the world, by thy son Jesus 
Christ ; and thou keepest thy word — thou fulfillest them. Thou 
brought me O God, from the ends of the earth into thy vineyard. 
Thou anointest mine eyes with the light of thy grace, 'till I see more 
and more. 

Therefore my tongue and pen continue for thee, to glorify thy 
cause, and to exalt thy name. I am a servant of thy servants, at thy 
command. My spirit is older than any that have been in the world, 
because it hath ever been with thee, and is not known only as deeds 
express to a beholding world. Thy servants hath been a staff to my 
soul in a needful time — a shield to my heart, and turned the arrows 
of the archers aside from ending my deeds in everlasting destruction. 
I am indebted to them for my past life, and preservation. Thou madest 
them my staff and my shield. I leaned upon them, and made use of 
their deeds in my defence. I find they were true weapons, and to 
be trusted in. In thy name I fought, and fell not a victim to my foes ; 
they were many but they came not out in thy name^-or I had been 
slain, as by an arrow thou hadst sent. 



THE DECREES OF ©OBv 3 

I now set down to reward thy children the prophets, with such 
things as thou hast given me ; trusting in thy grace I shall be able 
to stand alone hereafter* and do for myself* when my honest debts 
are paid. 

These were born before me, and have acted, and taught for my 
reformation — and all that may live hereafter. 

I have no desire to exceed or excel them in deeds : my only 
prayer is to be as one of them, and it is enough. These Oh God ! 
were children led in thy hand, and governed by thy laws — they lived 
by the words of thy mouth, and were not the children of invention, 
but servants of justice unto thee. Here I see my prayer accomplish- 
ed in them. Why may I not receive also my God, my Saviour and 
my King. These taught Kings and Councils, and were not afraid. 
These clothed themselves with thy name, as with a mantle, and 
shunned not the storm, these were prophets of old. These furnish- 
ed thy son the (christian Messiah) with lessons to repeat, so did 
thy servant David, and Isaiah thy son ; for his spirit was of thee, 
teaching these things that came to pass. 

A remnant of the Jews were saved. Thy son Jesus, that great 
prophet knowing all things from first to last, hath said, Abraham, 
Isaac, and Jacob should be seen in the kingdom of God — with all 
thy servants the prophets. 

Now if these have entered through the gates, into the city; why 
not follow them, Christ hath given them a good title, viz : worthy of 
the kingdom of God. This light we receive from thy Son, that is, 
that the spirit of these thy servants, that he hath named are justified 
ofthee. 

Can I doubt m their measure 1 No, forbid it O God, that I should 
cast the least stain on bread thou hast given the world. Thy Son 
came to justify the characters of these people, for this purpose he 
was sent ofthee. He foreknew that false people would arise and 
despise their reverend heads; therefore he placed a diadem upon 
them that no false heart can take away, their title is as good to the 
kingdom ofheaven as any names on earth. I will now talk with the 
world of restoration in thy presence, and give these titles to theancients 
which is justly their due. Israel, scattered Israel has only to come 
to the sacred writings, and they are a redeemed people as sure as 
the sun rises in the eastern world. These things O God thou hast 
hidden from their eyes, till the day of thine appointments, when thy 
Son shell return and restore a kingdom to Israel. He hath appeared 
as a prophet unto them, but not as a Saviour, or they had seen his 
day and been glad and rejoiced with Abraham their father. Paren- 
tal knowledge was lost by the Jews, and not restored by us, or we 
could make the pathway plain before their eyes. By the light of a 
Redeemer, Israel shall appear in his ancient glory, that is fitted for 
a ■Z 



4 IMPRESSIONS OF THE MIND. 

the kingdom of God. The servants of God in Israel knew Christ far 
better than ourselves — and hath declared his purpose and the event 
of his coming. He went away with a desire to save, this thirst of 
his was not quenched, for they were not saved, — he will return unto 
them when sent of God. The Christian world is little or no happier 
than the Jews, for as Jews cheat Christians, so Christians cheat one 
another. As they sought high stations, so do these I have last na- 
med ; as Jews are scattered unto all the earth, so are Christians in 
spirit divided one against the other. 

As for that salvation, that came by Christ Jesus it is not on earth. 
Now who dare say, who will be first restored to a peaceable kingdom 
— or whether any. I will now take the liberty of expressing my 
belief, and leave it with God to accomplish the same, enable this pub- 
lic declaration to appear false or true. 

If we who are Christians, or bear the title of believing in that body 
that was born of the Virgin Mary, being the Saviour of the world, 
why do we not keep his words ? nothing is more certain, we do not 
believe in them or truly we would obey ; we are preaching to these 
Jews to believe in this very bread we cast away, and institute substi- 
tutes in place thereof, and live on the imagination of our own brain 
and human reason ; and let me add, the Jews never will be restored 
to this Christian race as long as the sun rises in the East and sets 
in the West. 

The Jew saith our Messiah is to come, the Christian saith our Mes- 
siah hath come, and may justly add, " and we are not saved." Now 
the former is better than the latter disposition. If our Saviour has 
come, and we believe not in his words to practice them, we are as 
far from the kingdom of God as the darkened Jew, and in my opinion 
will enter after them ; these will become the gates of the city, and 
through their means, we shall enter there. The Lord hath good ti- 
dings in store for them, — he hath not cast them off forever, but only 
until his purposes are fulfilled with the Christian race, and then the 
house of Jacob shall enter there. We are perpetual crucifiers of a 
Redeemer's will, and have a right to that ever memorable prayer, 
" Father forgive them, they know not what they do." Abraham, 
Isaac, and Jacob is the way to the kingdom of heaven. The life of 
Christ, that sun of righteousness hath shone upon them, and told us so. 
I believe in Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and the prophets, and that 
Christ came to justify their days, and be a light to the whole earth 
by his precepts, and counsels he hath given unto men. Why should 
I not believe that Israel shall be saved, and thousands follow them ? 
If the love of God is not to them, why doth my spirit bear witness of 
their ancient spirit ? I have said mine is still older because it hath 
been contained in the treasures of the Lord until now. I bear no 
man's testimony, nor no other man bears mine. We receive no 



I 



THE DECREES OF GOD. 5 

proof by this, that I am alone, or that my testimony is not true. I 
believe also in the Apostles equally with the Prophets, both believed 
in Christ, and consequently are saved. To as many as believed in 
his name, he was perfectly the Saviour. The Prophets that hath 
testified of him, were actually followers of his spirit before his per- 
son was born, and the Apostles followed afterwards, which maketh 
no difference between the two, that is, children of the former and lat- 
ter days. 

1 am not a stranger to these, though I seemingly follow these sa- 
cred words alone. I speak personally and not spiritually, my person 
is acting in a station where there is none living to take part with me, 
I am sent to justify the ancients and proceed forward to my calling as a 
child to the commandments of God. I know there is hidden treasure 
in store for my spirit, and I must seek after it, it is bread for my 
soul. I have been fed by Priests and Kings of ancient days, but 
when I shall have rewarded them for their deeds, I shall be free, and 
wait for God's command as a child waiting at the gates to enter into 
the city. Stars of direction have they been to my feet, a compass to 
my spirit in the night season, the Lord hath brought them to my re- 
membrance when I was weary, and gave me rest. He hath made 
their blood as water to me by the way side, that my spirit might drink 
when she was thirsty and near to faint, then their blood was as wine 
to my soul, the Lord hath cheere'd me with their blood till I became 
intoxicated with joy, and became among my fellows (according to 
the flesh) as a drunken man, that standeth not upright unto the Lord, 
The Lord hath caused this pool to go dry unto me, though a spring 
of living water to all that live after me, and thirst therefor, 
that is to drink the blood of ancient days as wine to cheer the faint- 
ing soul. I sought and I found the spring of living water, it hath 
not gone dry, there is sufficient for all the earth. All flesh will find 
consolation in the blood of Israel. I cannot do justice to God, and 
to his chosen people except I declare these things — that which I 
have received, I have known ; but I am now about to leave this liv- 
ing spring, and inherit a thirsty land, my spirit hath stolen away as 
one in the night season, and where she is gone no one knoweth, but 
God alone. It is where the Prophet never saw, and she hath no evi- 
dence but the deeds of my person that may arise from the direction 
of my spirit, whom I trust this day is with God and a Redeemer. Great 
are thy works O God that are unrevealed, thou will appear as the 
morning — as the dawning of the day without clouds, so shall the 
coming of thy spirit be unto Israel thy chosen one, from the founda- 
tions of the world. Thou wilt give light to his eyes and shoes for his 
feet, and rings for his fingers, and jewels for his ears, and lead him 
to the land thou hast promised to Israel thy son, and unto Abraham 
his father. Abraham will be restored to his, Isaac to his house, and 
a3 



° IMPRESSIONS Or THE MIND. 

Jacob to hi? own. This is not comprehending Jews only, but these 
that love and fear the Lord, leave the world and glorify the life of 
Abraham. 

Oh let my spirit rise and sing, 
For Israel hath a Priest and King, 
And a deep Jordan to go through, 
And they'll receive the land anew. 

Oh Israel's God hath love in store, 
And bread for him forevermore ; 
A Saviour will his God appear, 
And all his sons attend to hear. 

Decrees are made, the lines are drawn 
In darkness, where my spirit 's gone, 
And none are given eyes to see 
What is their part or God's decree. 

In Eastern worlds will God appear, 
He'll cleanse me from my doubts and fear, 
He'll oil my tongue, and bid me tell, 
My soul 's beyond the the gates of hell. 

He bids mine eyes to see the land, 
The pillars where his house shall stand; 
He bids mine eye-lids rise and see 
His great design, his good decree. 

That all believing though we're lost, 
Shall see the stream that Israel cross'd ; 
And all that can his burden bear, 
Their feet shall walk and enter there. 

If Israel brought forth a Saviour to the world, and salvation is of 
the Jews, why look we for another people ? Their system was pure, 
but the people transgressed, yet as many as believed in Christ and 
the prophets, he liberated from the bondages of the law. When we 
have fulfilled the sacred laws of God given unto us, we shall be libe- 
rated from these bonds, and not sin. Behold we cast off the fetters, 
and do sin, and bring shame to the house oflsrael. The pathway of 
Israel is cast up for us to walk in ; then should we receive his glory 
and be not a few, but the human brain is full of invention and we 
are continually trying new ways, and defer his mercies from the 
house of the Lord. What are these? they are salvation for all the 
world, behold how extensive are the plans ! These are the pillars of 
the house — peace with all the earth, and a reconciliation with Israel 
of old ; thither is my spirit gone, and she will not return. The Lord 



THE DECREES OF GOD. 7 

will make a peaceable mansion for her in the bosom of the Jews. 
Though my body shall never see that day, there my spirit will be 
found at perfect rest in the bosom of the God of Israel. I am tired 
of the transgressing Christian world, that profess thrice more 
than they fulfil, and not one of the Christians I see are now at rest. 
She may court Christian Missionaries to enjoy her rests, but I am 
not an heir of thern, these have neither lot nor part with me in the 
work ; and as to my soul, there is no temptation in a Christian 
church. I had rather be with ten Jews, that keep their laws, than 
ten thousand transgressing Christians ; for the vengeance of the 
Lord is in store for the transgressor, but his love and mercy for them 
that do well. 

By the laws of Israel Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, entered the 
kingdom of God ; are there better laws than these ? I do not allude 
particularly to the hand-writing of Moses, but what God impressed on 
the minds of these dear children before Moses was born. It was 
only a loss of faith, that was the cause why Moses wrote his law. 
Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, saw the apostolic age, as bright and glo- 
rious as it ever will be seen : for they lived by faith, and brought 
forth fruits of the spirit of God. The new testament was only writ- 
ten for this dark age, that God foresaw would come on the world. 
And the old Testament is to restore Israel to the spirit of their fa- 
thers ; and the new Testament to restore the world or Christians to 
the Apostolic faith, and then their great mission and appointment of 
God is done ; but like the sword of David or Goliah, they will be laid 
up in the house of the Lord forever. 

Time will shew whether I have any measure of this faith, and 
whether I can live alone and bring forth fruits of God's spirit 
without scripture, or stand in the storm without this ancient staff 
to lean upon. I am forewarned by them to boast not of to-morrow, 
as I know not what the day will bring forth, but to improve 
to-day, and pray for bread the morrow. I am satisfied I have 
heard the voice of the Lord in the garden, as did my father that 
sinned against God — by his measures I have sinned also, and have a 
right to his decrees ; it was promised him that God would help him, 
and do by him according to his deeds. Now I am confident that ma- 
ny were restored to God before scriptures were written, by believing 
in the promises of God, and the virtue of his in speaking word. I be- 
lieve I am heir of this promise — it was by these means that Abraham, 
Isaac, and Jacob entered into the kingdom of God, and by these 
means my soul will enter a kingdom here and be at rest. Who can 
rise above these means, or who can be happy, and fall below them ? 

It is God's design to make this literary world a spiritual world, as 
it was before Moses took up the pen to reveal his will, or write 
down his decrees. Oh, my soul, be not the last to believe these 



$ IMPRESSIONS OF THE MIND. 

things, nor wait till the gates are shut that exclude thee from the 
City, but run in haste and bring tidings to thy brethren, for God is 
there : that is a spirit and not letters. This is the last testimony I 
shall leave of these things, and it was my first hand writing. My 
spirit now goeth forth to show the world that my Redeemer liveth 
and bringeth forth from the Spirit of God, receiveth the impressions 
of the mind that was common before Scripture, and believeth in 
them, and practiseth God's daily command. 



Beep were the waters, Lord, I know, 
That ancient Israel passed through ; 
Both the deep rivers and the sea 
Are now, are now, prepared by thee. 

God of my life, my feet prepare, 
And let my footsteps lead me there ! 
And let mine eyes thy promise see, 
What is for Israel — thy decree. 

Hast thou forbid his feet to move, 
Or sworn his land he '11 not improve ? 
Or hast thou love for him in store, 
To be revealed for evermore ? 

My children shall the fountain find, 
A living spring amidst the mind ; 
Though monarchs fall and princes die, 
This spring, this spring, shall never dry. 

I 've mark'd good Israel for mine own, 
And in his tent I 've laid the stone 
That never, never, will remove ; 
There I attend with deeds of love. 

Let not thine heart attend to fear, 
Nor kindred nations be so near 
As to my ancient son despise, 
For he 's the eldest and most wise. 

Thy spirits in the darkened tomb 
From thence will rise, as sun at noon, 
And when the clouds doth flee away, 
Thine eye shall see good Israel's day. 



THE INVISIBILITY OF GOD. 



October 18th, 1832. 



God and his holy angels are obscure from us, and afford room 
for extensive argument, and abundant human reasoning, still adding 
no proof on the subject, nor deciding what is the truth of this hidden 
kingdom — the residence of God. If I can add light to darkness, 
I am bound so to do, in my duly towards God, and my love and 
good will to men. 

I believe in no atmosphere of angels, but the mind. That spirits 
subsist amongst the clouds more visible than they do amidst the 
waves of the sea, I believe not. The mind is a spirit, and her 
attendants are such. We never see a spirit with our personal eyes, 
it is the spiritual man only that knoweth the things of God, for it is 
the soul that discerneth them. That appearances were seen in 
days of old, I dispute not; and that God gave them to confirm the 
feeble and unbelieving mind — not only so, but to manifest his dignity 
and power to the world, — that John who wrote the Revelation saw 
many visions, I dispute not. But that they were written to confirm 
our weak and feeble minds, I believe also. He believed long ere 
that day. But they were given to John to make a book of, that we 
may read and believe in a Deity as did this dignified servant of the 
Lord. 

That the Virgin Mary saw not the likeness of God's Spirit by 
Gabriel's name, 1 believe not, but that she did really see, and hear, 
and understand ; and although it is the mind that conceives the 
spiritual Son of God, yet I really believe her person did conceive, 
and that God formed this Emanuel within the bounds of her body or 
person, and that he was born like another child into the world. I 
also believe that his mind conceived of God ; as true it is that I 
believe that Mary received his person from a Divine original. Now 
if I could end a disputed matter, I think I am doing well in so doing. 
Arguing and not gaining is like seeking and not finding, — like 
travelling and never coming to the city, — like toiling and receiving 
no wages ; for the world is farther from the knowledge of God in 
these days than in times that are past : viz. the patriarchal age, 
before the Son of God was born of his Virgin mother. All received 
of one God whether judgment or mercy. It is singular to repeat, 
but no more so than is true, that is before the Scriptures, all the 
godly Patriarchs of old believed in one God, and one word, and 
were agreed these days God will restore to the world in the resur- 
rection of the dead. These shall appear with Messiah our Saviour. 
It is all the attributes and merits of God that compose a Saviour. I 
have said Christ that was born received of God, but he that is to come 
is God. A holy spirit then will our past Messiah appear again, I mean 



10 IMPRESSIONS OF THE MIND. 

the deeds done in his person. His person also will be brought to re- 
membrance and glorified on earth. He that is to come is God, and 
cannot conceive of another, then will he make use of a Redeemer's 
heart or mind to redeem the world. Cain the son of Adam was and 
is counted one of the worst of men because he killed his brother. 
There is a singular testimony in scripture of him, and that is, that he 
knew he was worthy of death, according to the laws of Moses, and 
consequently our laws this day. But God forbade the vengeance of 
men upon their brother. Cain knew his crime and that was enough 
in the sight of God, he said his burden was more than he could bear. 
Here let us learn that he had to borrow of God, a back to bear the 
burden or a heart to feel the stripes and yet live. Cain was a vessel 
of his own choice, as a stone in a building. His life forms part in 
the written books of Moses. Now, if this hard-hearted man could be 
made sensible by the convicting voice of God, that he was guilty of 
sin, he was nearer the kingdom of Heaven than many in this day 
that sin and know it not. 

In him G( d has pleased to display the power of his wrath and yet 
save his soul alive. The soul or spirit of Cain liveth, or he could 
not feel and testify of the anger of God. Now if God showed mercy 
to Cain, to whom shall we not shew mercy ? Cain's neighbours let 
him live, for God swore that he would be avenged of them that rose 
up to be their brother's Judge, and lay on the stripes according to 
their unforeseeing mind in the extensive purposes of God. 

We will now describe a Deity as we can prove — and not leave 
our lines in darkness for blind men to dispute about, (for so we all 
are, till God gives us light the second time from heaven,) the sun in 
the firmament is our first light, when we are born into the worlds 
but this clouded and unclouded light lets us know little or nothing of 
a spiritual kingdom or world to come. It is but an allusion though 
really necessary for our personal benefit, that is as the sun in the 
skies — teacheth us how to procure for the person, so doth that sun 
within, that tells us we must provide for the soul, or she will perish 
like one wanting bread. 

To measure spiritual things by these that are natural is with me 
impossible ; if we could see all, if we could comprehend all, we are 
yet short of this kingdom, where the spirit forever is at rest. The 
philosopher and star-gazer is far short of the kingdom of God, 
Jacob saw more in his vision of the ladder, the descending and 
ascending of angels, than all the philosophers in the world ; for he 
saw the Lord above, but they only see herbs and plants below ; rocks, 
seas, and insects, globical apparitions with stars above ; but Jacob 
saw the Lord. Jacob could not discover this to another, — it was his 
own bread from heaven. He could testify of God and angels, but 
could not give this illumination to the world ; and that is all that 
earthly Divines can do, from that day to this. 



THE IS VISIBILITY OF GOD. 



11 



These things were bread for his own soul, and it induced him to 
erect a memorial to the Lord ; he could not write, and therefore 
erected his memorial of stone, a well chosen material, because it 
decayeth not. A Deity is power above us, to whom we can neither 
give "form, shape, nor size ; but whosoever hath seen the creation 
by visions of heavenly light, hath seen the body or person of the 
Lord. If he is not in every thing created I am mistaken ; and this 
is where the natural philosopher comes short of describing a Deity 
to the world. I form no disputes with any person, because I covet 
not, I envy not, neither am I afraid that another will prove stronger 
and take my crown away, — not a crown as a king, — but that which 
<jod hath given, I place uppermost on my head. To me it is a 
diadem of chief delights, the author of all my joys. 

Whosoever hath received the words of conviction into his soul 
from an offended God, has seen God, has known God ; and him that 
believeth sets to his seal that God is true, though we are sinners. 
This way we receive the living God into the mind, and we know 
that his testimony is true, for it is stronger than all in us, and the 
most powerful ; and in that hour we have received an angry God 
into the mind. Thus Cain knew the Lord long before Scripture ; 
and thus my stubborn soul may know him when I know Scripture 
no more : i. e. when other men's deeds shall or may be forgotten, 
and I shall be swallowed up in mine own, whether they are deeds 
of sin or righteousness. Cain's heart became a kingdom of hell to 
fsim ; but he could not bear the convicting flame without expression. 
If I have had my share in this kingdom, shall I not speak also, and 
add to his testimony by saying, I know how his spirit did feel within 
him ; every body hated him for his crime ; to him the earth was 
comfortless for a time. We know not but God abated the flame 
before he built the city, or enjoyed society, or embraced a female 
companion in life ; for we never read that he sinned afterward, but 
was prosperous in this world. If he had been cut off by men 
according to our designs, he could not have shewn the chastising 
hand of God and such marks of forgiveness as he hath done. But 
these deeds form precious lines in the hand-writing of Moses, and 
are God's favours unto us. God was more powerful than him. 
Though of a hard heart and of an unmerciful mind, yet he was 
brought to confession before the Lord, whom we suppose might be 
accounted as one of ths Worst of sinners. 

These written lines afford more knowledge of God to the world 
than all the Newtons and Miltons that ever put pen to paper. Here 
we have marks of God's superiority : that is to say, he is too strong 
in judgment for the worst of men, and his fiery darts or arrows of 
conviction can convince the hardest heart of sin, and set the whole 
kingdom on fire within us that we rest not. Now my opinion of 



12 IMPRESSIONS OF THE MIXP. 

salvation is this, — that a man's bitter heart or mind of woes, where 
the whole creation is cursed to him and comfort not, can be changed 
from this convicting and consuming flame to which all must yield, 
can be changed by repentance, and the forgiveness of God, till that 
heart or soul that burned in the convicting flame and yet died not, can 
be re-changed to be a kingdom of joys. Thus we know that God 
is powerful by the changes of the mind, more than the atmosphere, 
or all the herbs, plants, trees, or seas and tides that ebb and flow 
below the sun. It is the mind that is the mediator; the mind of 
Emanuel was placed between God and my sins. His soul was in 
hell for them ; that is, suffered judgment for sin, that sinned not, 
and was translated from the kingdom of hell or conviction (for this 
kingdom is composed of spiritual fire, that is, the wrath of God that 
reaches our spirit, which no material fires can do) to the kingdom 
of heaven, where all is peace, and the spirit rests justified of our 
deeds, which are according to command. As sin is counter thereunto, 
here we see God's pre-eminence ; he is over both kingdoms, binds 
and releases as he will, and we are but the subjects of his will, and 
are not even master over our own souls. 

God is invisible to the human eye, but plainly known to the spirit 
within us, which is the mind. It came from God, and knoweth the 
parent, when he speaks to it by his loud sentences of conviction 
which wakes the dead comparatively speaking ; i. e. if I am in the 
spirit of my wicked father, or a child of the spirit of Cain, though 
he were dead, his spirit will come to judgment in me : for without 
repentance it is unpardonable with God. 

Thus Christ suffered a painful' death for the whole world. All 
sins or sinners received conviction in him ; and this was the hell of 
spirits he suffered in, when his darkened foes railed around him and 
rejoiced in their victory. Thus it is said is the way to the kingdom 
of heaven, — it lieth by the gates of hell, — the pool of repentance to 
the sinner, the liberation of the spirit of the just. 

The flame is forever, — as long as God is angry with us the fire 
burns unceasingly ; but when he sees our spirit in a right temper to 
serve the Lord and glorify his name, he liberates the captive and 
sets the bondsman free. 

All these things I have known for many years ; and believing it 
to be my duty to live a lonesome life in }ears to come, excluded 
from the world and the cares thereof, I leave this written testimony 
for them that may live after me, as my knowledge of God may be 
strengthening to some one weak in faith. For the same purpose these 
lines are drawn to strengthen men, and be a lasting confirmation to 
the mind. 

I have engaged the world alone, — spoke that which hath not been 
revealed, and written that which hath not been seen. Nevertheless 



BRIGHT ARE THE RAYS OF HEAVENLY LIGHT. 13 

these declarations are true. Moses and the Prophets will shine on 
them in years to come ; as the sun reaeheth the western hills by 
morning light, so the day dawneth when these things will appear, a 
little above my brethren of the age. As to the appearance of God 
and angels, God the great Deity of the world appeareth by his word. 
Whatever is seen, or hath been seen, is only a confirmation to the 
human mind, to strengthen the belief of him that otherwise might 
be an unbeliever and reject the truths of God. Him that knoweth 
God by his word, knoweth as much as ever will be known, or hath 
been known by the appearance of angels, or all the visions of light 
that ever hath shone below the sun. 



October 19th, 1832. 

Bright are the rays of heavenly light, 

Like to the morning sun, 
These lead my footsteps from the night, 

To months and years to come. 

With bright allusions lead me on, 

To place my feet secure ; 
I've Israel for my stepping stone, 

His blood my wounds to cure. 

Jehovah's great eternal name 
Broke through the eastern sky, 

The prophet sang, the angel came, 
Emanuel was nigh ; 

Then I awoke, with great surprise, 

To see my God so nigh ; 
Then tears o'erflowed my weeping eyes, 

That in despair were dry. 

My heart affords a living spring, 
From thence my tears doth flow ; 

My soul rejoices in her King, 
And triumphs o'er her foe. 

These tears of joy, like Aaron's oil, 

From day to day descend : 
Adam was made to dress the soil, 

And I'm made for this end. 



14 IMPRESSIONS OF THE ailXfc 

October 28th, 1832. 
THE POWER AND VIRTUE OF THE WORD OF GOD. 

Oh God t I have heard thy word, and bear witness thereunto. 
Thy word is my salvation, the bread of my soul, water to quench 
my thirst, and the pathway of eternal life, because there is no end. 
It is wine to cheer my spirit, strength to my limbs, the physician of 
my disease, and the bonds of peace. It proceedeth out from thee, 
whom I know not, neither can I, for thow art unbounded by heaven, 
earth, or sea. All that are created contain thee not ; thy magnitude 
is beyond men and angels, and yet the earth is full of thee. The 
seas declare thy glory, and the heavens show forth thy wondrous 
name. 

I now write for thee by the measures thou hast given, and cease 
not to give thee praise. Thou madest a covenant with my soul when 
she was young, and as a faithful friend thou now makest good thy 
word. It is written in the past records of my life that I should write 
for thee, which promise this solemn moment of my life thou by thy 
justifying spirit enablest me to do. I am but a worm before thee. 
Thou art all, to whom be honour and glory given forevermore. Thy 
word is the pillar of the earth, the extent of the skies and stars in 
the firmament of heaven. My soul or spirit is of thy word. As 
the child knoweth the affectionate parent, so my soul knoweth thee, 
and through thee can testify of thy wondrous works. 

What is man? — he is but a worm, his days a span, and he is 
known no more. I must die, and who shall live after me I know 
not, or into whose hands these lines are falling I cannot tell. I am 
yet alive, and indebted to thee for thy mercies and favours thou hast 
bestowed on a poor worm of dust, not worthy to be numbered with 
men, or claim a title to the workmanship of thine hand. Neverthe- 
less I must confess I was made by thee, and I cannot change my 
being ; I have said I must die, because it is appointed to all men to 
turn to dust and be no more. Thus I mark my pathway down to 
the tomb, and many thousands will walk therein after me who hath 
no desire to live. My soul this day hath desired the depths of the 
sea, or the heart of the earth, more than the estate of kings or the 
diadem of princes. I shall die naturally, but spiritually I shall 
never die ; neither shall my spirit leave the earth. These things 
the word of the Lord hath spoken in mine ears ; my spirit is ordained 
to live and see deep sorrows here below. Pleasure has fled from 
my garden, there is no flower of pleasant smell ; my heart is filled 
with thorns and thistles, — the afflictions of men are engraven there. 



THE POWER AND YIRTUE OP THE WORD OF GOD. 15 

As thou writest Almighty God upon my heart, so transcribe I to 
paper. I am a frail man ; it is all that I can do to write after thee ; 
of myself I can do nothing. 

Thou gavest me light in darkness ; thou commanded mine ear to 
hear thy word, and mine eyes to see thy salvation ; and mine ear 
and mine eyes obeyed thee. Thou walkedst before me in truth : I 
followed after thee, as through the depths of the sea ; and men nor 
angels knew it not. Thou dwelt with me alone in the dead watches 
of the night, and taught my soul in the secret corners of the globe, 
where men never saw. Thou gavest unto me a sun of light whereby 
I could see thy name, and direct my pen for thee. 

Thou planted a hedge on my right hand and on my left, to save 
my soul from the gates of hell and the bondages of the pit, to which 
there is no end. Thou took fast hold on my right hand by mighty 
strength ; for I have seen thy hands fairer than the hands of 
maidens. Thou took fast hold on mine. Thou gave to my heart 
spirits like wine, and I sang the songs of the Lord. Thou writest 
and blottest out again upon my soul, and every day I come to nothing 
before thee. Thou rebuildest my spirit by thy might, and by thy 
power. Thou leadest into dark places, such as I can endure and 
live ; but trouble is yet to come. Then will I write the deeper 
lessons. When thou leadest me by the more mysterious way, then 
will I show more plainly the wonders of thy name, and mercies of 
my soul that thou hast given. Thy will, O Lord, is like a country yet 
unknown. There are hidden treasures with thee that thou hast 
never shewn unto men. I thirst this day O God for springs of living 
water, and bread to strengthen my spirit ; she is weak before thee, 
and faintest as a maiden in despair. Reach forth thine hand O God, 
and feel my necessities ; behold they are not a few. My spirit is 
clothed with thy children as a garment ; they look up to me, and I 
am lean to feed thy flocks Lead me to pastures that will never fail, 
to springs that never dry : and my soul shall honour thee forever. 

The day is dark, my spirit is in the desert; she hath no sun, there 
is no compass for my soul. Former favours hath passed away ; thy 
goodness is not known save by remembrance. Oh my Saviour and 
my God ! behold thy sun hath risen in the eastern world, and there- 
unto shall thy feet attend and find rest. More than Israel and Jacob 
of old shalt thou receive at my hand, for thy peace is forevermore, 
thy pastures fail not, neither doth the spring dry that comforts thy 
soul. Thou art in the ways of Israel, and his soul shall be found 
of thee, and his spirit joined with thine to live forever. Thy sun 
shall never set, nor the morning of thy days be forgotten, because 
thou hast builded altars to the Lord, and sacrificed thereon at my 
command without the laws of Israel. Life is in store for thee, and 
bread forever. 



16 IMPRESSIONS OF THE MIND. 

Thy spirit shall sing songs that never were sung, nor committed 
to the world since the sun rose from the mighty deep, where light 
was clouded without me forevermore. 

My spirit shall be as the sun to thee, and these lines this day shall 
be as a seal to my former covenants when I promised to thee, — thou 
shouldst do that thou then couldst not do. 

Thine heart shall be as the tables of the Lord, on which are 
written the commandments of men, or bread that I shall give unto 
them forever. Thy spirit shall not ascend above or descend below, 
but shall remain unchangeable and immoveable between me and my 
people ; and these things to which the earth is a stranger shall be 
seen of thee. Thy person is a tabernacle built of clay, that will 
not soon consume, or deform, or moulder back to dust. Years will 
declare for thee, and months reveal that which is unknown. The 
storm shall beat in vain on thine house, and death go empty away. 
The purposes of this world shall be fulfilled in thee, and darkness 
brought to light which is hidden in the shades of the night and the 
shadow of death. 

Death shall be as a shadow unto the removing, and not slaying 
the person in which thou dwells. Thine hearing shall be strong 
and thine eye-sight clear ; thou shalt see beyond the grave and 
faint not. The eastern world shall be as a garden to thee ; the 
west is the beginning of thy pilgrimage full of sorrow, and pregnant 
with bonds. The prison doors and keepers would receive thee ; but 
I have bolted them and barred them with double bars : they cannot 
be opened. The rich of this world shall hate thee, and thou shalt 
endure the burden cast upon thee. Thou shalt groan beneath the 
heavy load and cease not; thy tongue shall tell, and thy feet shall 
run to the tents of Jacob aud the house of Israel, for there in store 
is thine everlasting peace. Thou shalt convince many of their sins, 
and redeem a few to be the sons and daughters of the Most High 
God. I will slay after thee : I will execute judgment in my wrath, 
and few shall escape the sorrows of ancient days. I will overthrow 
every false temple in the earth where my name is not written. 

That house shall moulder as clay to the ground. I am full of love 
to the world saith the Lord ; but the earth is not fit for my embracing, 
to receive the counsels of my lips or receive the servants I shall 
send unto them. I will send unto Israel of old, saith the Lord, the 
Son of my power and glory ; he shall appear in thee in spirit, and 
the Lord on his right hand to justify his cause forevermore. 

I will terribly scourge the earth, ere the inhabitants will be saved. 
They are as intoxicated people, with the spirit of this world. Kings 
and princes stand not upright to the Lord. 

Priests have become hired servants, and serve the world for 
wages. This is Babylon of old. Her queen shall he slain ; it is 



BRIGHT ARE THE RAYS OF HEAVENLY LIGHT. IT 

prophesied by my servant John in the sacred records, and will surely 
come to pass. I will have a new name and a people, that the world 
knovveth not ; and not these that have sworn to idols> and made 
covenants with the gods of the earth, and serve princes for their 
favours. Behold the eastern sun is now risen ; I will put evil far 
from my tents and tabernacles. Israel shall serve the Lord in 
fulness of spirit ; he hath only ceased, to live again, — lain down to 
sleep, to arise in the fulness of his strength. Mine arm is stretched 
forth full of ancient power ; my covenants are with the just, and 
them that fear the Lord. I will make the mountains of great men 
(in this world) as hills of sand that run into the sea, and are known 
no more. 

I have not written of myself, but of the words of the Lord, revealed 
in the secret watches of the night, and in the garden where no man 
walketh but God alone. 

Great is the name of the Lord, above all the mountains where he 
appeared to Israel of old ; for more he will reveal to the world than 
hath already been. My soul seeketh there for day and night, and 
fainteth not, because the arm of the Lord is my support, and in him 
I put my trust forevermore. 

I am not a brute that I should not know his name. He hath made 
man worthy of his presence ; and he will be seen of me, not a like- 
ness of mine own, or any thing in heaven, earth or sea, but the 
peace and salvation of the whole earth. I delight in his name. I 
love to toil for wages. His justification is the bread of life, and 
never failing spring that ceaseth not to flow, and giveth unto my soul 
sweet waters. None knoweth the Lord save these that walk after 
him; these behold his miracles in the soul and are acquainted with 
his wondrous works. Now I must testify of the Lord until this day 
and then cease. He hath formed my spirit with his right hand, he 
hath said unto my soul live, he hath opened a way before me and bid 
me walk therein. He hath given me jewels of gold, and made me 
rich through his mercies. He has given that which none can take 
away, he hath established my feet in the way they should go, he 
hath set a mark upon me that no man shall hurt me with his hands 
or deform my spirit, he hath laid a heavy burden upon me and bid 
me bear it up. He hath strengthened my hope, and brought years 
to come near unto my soul. He hath bid me look afar off and 
behold his name written. He hath endued me with patience in 
tribulation that I faint not. He hath set the whole army of saints 
and servants before me, and bid me run and overtake them, for they 
are travelling to the city of God. These pass on with a alow but 
steady step, waiting for the redemption of the world, ere their spirit 
can enter into perfect rest. He hastens my step ; his commandments 
are to bid adieu to men. There is no time to be lost ; delay not 
s 



18 IMPRESSIONS OF THE MIND. 

with the sluggard, nor wait for thorn that are slothful in spirit. He 
bids me run alone and stumble not; he will be my staff by morning 
light, he will arise before the sun and lead me forward, he will place 
a diadem upon my head, as were of old, and I shall dwell in the tents 
of Israel. Heaven is before mine eyes ; her gates or portals are 
open here below. It is my last end if I endure. Strengthened by 
the promises of the Lord, I seal the services of the day with love to 
God my Creator and Redeemer. 

No love O God can exceed the tender affections of my spirit that 
I bear to thee ; wine cannot cheer me, nor lands be a comfort to my 
soul, — the smiles of this world are as an empty bubble for thy sake. 
The joys of a wicked world is bitter as gall to my spirit ; I hate them 
and love them not. A drop of ancient blood is strength to my sinews 
and oil to my joints. Thou hast preserved the blood of the prophets 
in cups of gold, and now and then I have tasted with my tongue ; this 
blood is for cleansed vessels, and them that love the Lord with their 
whole hearts and with an upright mind. It is precious in thine eyes, 
and not one drop thereof shall fall to the ground. This is oil for the 
eyes of Israel ; this will be poured on the heads of their chief men. 
It is not spilt to be lost, but is in store with thee, till Israel shall call 
loudly on thy name. Thy love O God is the banqueting house of my 
soul ; there she receives at thy table and is glad. O God, I have 
loved thee more than the ancient hills. Sion will not compare with 
thee, nor Sinai half declare thy name. My hope is in thee, my life 
is in thine hands. The sun in the firmament is setting, and I must 
close up this testimony and engage the watches of the night. Thou 
hast been near me O God in the night season, and talked with me 
when all flesh slumbered on their pillows. Thou hast been with me 
by morning light, confirming me by the voice of thy truth, — wherein 
I was doubtful, thou hast led me, when I was ready to stumble and 
turned my spirit aside from the bonds of despair. My heart is thine 
O Lord, and all that I have is thine. Thy treasures are in trust with 
me, these things which thou hast given, thou commandest the whole 
earth by thy word. It is the bounds of the sea, the line of the storm — 
the direction of the clouds, the rising and setting sun is commanded 
thereby, and thou art the God of the whole earth. Expose me no 
more to the world O God I pray thee, but let me write of thy sacred 
truths, and my name be hid forever. It is hard for me to give that 
which thou hast given. 

Mockers will mock me, and the present divines will despise my 
name. Clothe my soul as with a mantle O God ! — my spirit in a 
cloud, that I am not seen, that thy glory only may light the world 
forevermore. Deeper than the seas are thy wisdom. Wisdom 
dwells in unsearchable depths, bring her up O God from deep 
waters, as thou calledst the sun to rise as revealed to thy servant 



THE LORD IS NOT IN FETTERS. 19 

Moses. Enable her to bear twins O Lord unto Moses and unto 
Christ, the pillars of thine house below. Let my name be blotted 
out O Lord under the sun, that thou may have all glory ; for honour 
belongeth unto thee. Build up the tents and tabernacles of ancient 
days ; dwell therein, and make thy name glorious below the sun. 

Thou hast heard my prayer O Lord. I shall be no more revealed 
to the world : my spirit will dwell wiih thee forever. 



October 29th, 1832. 

Keep thou O Lord my harp in tune, 

Both every string and cord; 
Nor let my trembling heart presume, 

To stand before the Lord. 

If that strong mountain Sinai shook, 

That did receive thy laws, 
Oh how shall I presume to look 

On God or on his cause 1 

Veil me with clouds O God obscure, 

And let me dwell alone : 
If rocks and mountains can't endure. 

Can I see things unknown ? 

Oh Lord to heaven lift up mine eyes ; 

Thou dwells where none can see, 
Thou 'st made a mantle of the skies, 

My spirit's feet for thee. 

Thou 'st made my heart to burdens bear* 

And laid the load thereon ; 
Thou 'st took my person in thy care, 

And I 'm forever gone. 

My name is but a shadow here, 

In haste prepares to flee, 
Soon shall my person disappear, 

And I '11 be found with thee. 



November 1st, 1832. 

The Lord is not in fetters, neither are his hands in chains, nor his 

spirit directed by the prayers of men. He will pour out his blessings 

on people of his own choosing, and commit his will to vessels, of his 

love. His grace and goods shall be in trust with them to commit to 

b2 



20 IMPRESSIONS OF THE MIND. 

the world in due season, in the appointed time that is only known in 
heaven above. I am confirmed that a change will take place in the 
earth, and such as has not been since the first rising of the sun. If 
God is well pleased with the earth, why doth sorrow remain or infants 
go down to an untimely grave 1 

Let us meditate on the things of God, and be sober. It is a 
dreadful day indeed when we have to live every hour in the fear of 
death and terror of the grave. So the last summer hath been to all 
that beheld the unconfmed chastising hand of God upon the earth. 
The grave-yards were cultivated as the fallow. ground for the seed ; 
the grave-diggers were as so many gardeners preparing the ground 
for the dead, — men that had not lived half their days. If we who 
are spared from this dreadful and seemingly untimely calamity, and 
are nothing the better of this sore chastisement on our brethren who 
hath passed the gates of death, truly his hand will be drawn a little 
nearer unto us, till we can see his vengeance written thereon ; for in 
the very community to which we as brethren belong, doth not disputes 
remain With us ? doth not temporal interest inspire to grief, and are 
we not in close communion and fellowship with all the world 1 Then 
when we see the limbs thereof falling into the earth like untimely 
figs, we know the tree is shaken by him that first laid the pillars of 
the earth. Who can control the storm 1 who can command the sea? 
No, not one, but the word of God. Then are all things at his com- 
mand ; and he is an unlimited God, both in his judgments and his 
mercy. He will water the earth with his blessings ; he will smile 
upon his people. My son and my daughter, come away from the 
broad way of the earth ; there is danger therein, — a lion is in this 
way : the Lord will appear before, strong and unconquerable, if 
thou pursuest the pathway of men, or vain glory in the house of the 
Lord. The bosom of the Lord is filled with wine for his people ; 
he will make them joyful in his own inheritance, the house he hath 
chosen for their dwelling. 

The Lord is strong, there is no binding him. We cannot mock 
his decrees and go unpunished. He hath the fires of hell in store 
for them that mock his name. The disobedient shall wander as lost 
sheep from the house of Israel and find no rest. 

Feed with the flocks my son and my daughter : the banqueting 
house is in the midst of them. There thy thirst shall be satisfied 
and offend not the Lord, neither wilt thou become a stumbling-block 
to his people. Fear to offend, Oh son and daughter, lest ye offend 
the living God. It is a dangerous thing to offend these that believe 
in God, but no sin to receive offences with patience. 

There is a new day dawning on the world. The Spirit of the 
Lord hath arisen in the east, and shineth on the western world ; and 
by the rays of this sun, we behold the power and glory of ancient 



THE LORD 19 NOT ZN FETTERS. 21 

days. No man can govern the Lord ; he cannot be bound : he wilh 
have his own way in the earth. And these are the latter days when 
the Lord shall appear as he now doth, — clothed with judgment and 
with mercy. 

Seek no victory amongst men : for so doth the crowns and princes 
in this world. Seek it not, it shall be taken from thee, and lost by 
them ; for God will be our all. He will give us that we sought not 
for; and these things the eye hath never seen are yet to come. 

There is no danger in the counsels of the Lord. The will of the 
Lord is as a strong fortress for his people, which none can take 
away. The house of his blessings is rising, composed of all the 
kindred of the earth. He will reconcile all into one body, save the 
rebel ; he shall become the footstool of his wrath, heavy laded with 
more than he can bear. His soul shall cry out before the Lord, 
when his children shall rejoice in the vineyard of his pleasure, 
gathering the lawful clusters of the vine, and joys appointed from 
the foundations of the earth. 

Hearken to the voice of the Lord my son, nfy daughter, the child 
of my bosom, attend to hear, (there thou wast conceived and brought 
forth into the earth to have a being amongst men.) The Lord talketh 
with thee through a loud trumpet from above ; who cannot hear and 
not understand ? None, save these who have closed up their ears, 
and refuse to be converted from the wicked and sinful paths of life. 
which lead our footsteps down to hell, where there is weeping and 
wailing forevermore, — where the tears cease not to flow, neither is 
the fire of conviction quenched till the captive cometh forth captured 
by victory. Oh shun this doleful pit ! The howling of beasts are 
there : that is, our nature crying for relief, and is unheard until 
repentance is offered to God for a sacrifice for sin. 

It is yet the morning of the day ; fathers and mothers enter not 
in at the gates of despair. She courts you with open arms and 
kisses you with fond embraces. Partake not of her spirit. I am 
acquainted with her ; I have been with her in the night season. She 
will lull you to sleep in her arms, and feed you at her hopeless breast, 
and bind your hands from labour. Hope is stronger than her ; make 
her thy kinswoman. She arises by morning light. Her sparkling 
eyes behold the first dawning of the day, she is early shod and pre- 
pared to travel ; she is waiting for command, she leaneth on the pil- 
lars of the Lord's house, and her staff faileth not in a day of trouble ; 
her breasts are full of joy, the Spirit of the Lord abideth there, the 
comfort of nations, kings and princes will come forth and taste of 
her wine, and become as little children, and be saved in the latter 
days, behold the sun riseth higher, farther and farther doth these 
spiritual rays descend. 

b3 



4Z IMPBESSIOKS OF THE MIND. 

Behold the vineyard of the Lord increases ; the pastures are 
snlarged, and there is water in the stream to quench the thirst of 
the thirsting flocks of Israel. The grape is on the vine, the figs are 
on the trees, and in the midst of her are the words of life, and who- 
mever partaketh thereof shall never die. These are the command- 
ments of the Lord, springs of living water, the rivers thereof leadeth 
all flesh to the city of God. This is the station of never ending 
joys, where the fire of conviction is quenched with the tears of the 
penitent and the heart offered to God. 

Continuing fire is where misery doth not abate, which is God's 
wrath for want of repentance, and this is the universal station of the 
western world. She is clothed with tears, but barren as sands to 
repentance, and therefore sorrow remains. Come out of her my 
children, walk not after her footsteps, for she hath led her children 
to meet the judgments of the Lord ; or why doth death's chastising 
hand pervade the earth? It is now the full time of his coming, he 
will increase sorrow ; he will not be mocked with idle prayers, nor 
the decrees of men. He will have repentance, or consume the 
whole earth with fire ; i. e. conviction shall burn as unquenchable 
fire on these that repent not, and the earth and the sea will abound 
with the bodies of dead men. Infants shall meet an untimely grave, 
to bring sorrow to the heart and tears from the eyes of afflicted 
fathers and mothers which shall abound here below, till God offers 
himself to be a parent to the child, and a shepherd to these that 
stand in need. Then will the hands of death be bound with a chain, 
and disease put into fetters, to prevail no more. Hell shall be closed 
up as in a dungeon of sorrows ; none shall commune with her, neither 
shall her guests be farther known. These things are the love of 
God to his people. He will speak loudly in years to come ; the 
trumpet is in his lips, the word of the Lord is on his tongue, and he 
will convince the world of sin, and clothe the earth with righteous. 
ness. Maidens have clothed themselves before him and princes put 
diadems upon their head, but the Lord will take them off again, and 
the soul of maidens shall become naked before his eyes ; they shall 
appear as a back smitten with many stripes, and mark their pathway 
with tears of sorrow down to the grave. Shun her ways Oh sons 
and daughters ; these things are in the treasures of the Lord for 
them that love the world and walk after her as a maiden, and give 
their heart unto her as an harlot for her favours. I now close the 
service of the day according to God's direction, whose commands 
hath directed me to write these things, and wait at the gates of the 
city, Jerusalem of old spiritualized ; for this is new Jerusalem, the 
salvation of the world. 



THE LORD IS NOT IN FETTERS. 23 

It is where friends and kindred meet 

A happy world of joys, 
Where every soul can songs repeat, 

Nor bird nor brute destroys. 

The temple where the Lord doth dwell, 

A thousand angels round ; 
And I rejoice and I can tell, 

Within this city 's found. 

God is a Spirit dwelling there, 

His merits all are love ; 
None with his being can compare, 

In earth or heaven above. 

He keeps the city and the gates, 

None, none can enter there ; 
But those whose spirit praise repeats, 

And doth reject despair. 

Long, long this city hath been sought, 

The proud ne'er enter in ; 
With blood these portals all are bought, 

The sacrifice for sin. 



November 13th, 1832. 

Let every creature praise thy name, 
From whom the hills and mountains came, 
That bounds the billows of the sea, 
And bids the bird and brute agree. 

Let man devote his heart to praise, 
For thou 'st appointed all his ways ; 
And thou 'st forbid his soul to sin, 
Or hell to take his spirit in. 

Oh let my soul to sin refuse, 

For sins the living God abuse : 

I '11 rise upright and form my prayer, 

And God will keep me from despair. 

Hell 's not appointed nor ordained, 
Nor by a kind Creator named ; 
But a dark station men hath found, 
With iron bars and empty sound. 



24 IMPRESSIONS OP THE MIND. 

It is not numbered with the days, 
When God performed his deeds of praise .; 
But unknown space the sinners due, 
That God has cursed and banished too. 

To every man, to every son, 

There is no death or hell to come: 

To every creature that agrees, 

The Lord commands them as the seas, 

That every wave the Lord obeys, 

So man 's ordain'd to peace and praise. 



November 18th, 1832. 

When earth doth make her bosom bare, 
She leads my footsteps to despair ; 
Though princes in her bosom rest, 
The flocks of Jacob 's there oppress'd. 

I hate her ways and her decrees ; 
She is not merciful to these : 
Proud kings doth in her bosom reign ; 
They '11 fall to never rise again. 

Children, with patience lend an ear, 
The Lord hath come, salvation 's near ; 
With patience at his gates attend, 
He 's come to be our peace and friend. 

His name upon our books record ; 
He 's Jacob's Saviour and his Lord ; 
His words are like the rising sun, 
He is my strength in years to come. 

He lights my way and binds my foe, 
And lengthens all my days below ; 
His arm is bright, his spirit 's strong, 
He 's my salvation and my song. 



November 25th, 1832. 

The corner and the stone is bless'd, 
That 's Jacob's home and Jacob's rest ; 
The stone that Israel sought to find 
Is deeply buried in the mind. 



THE LOUD 13 NOT IN FETTEBS, 25 

The love of God is safe in store, 
For those that Israel's God adore ; 
The treasure 's plain, the lines are true, 
There every prophet gets his due. 

There 's no injustice, wrong, nor fraud, 
With Israel's Saviour, Israel's God ; 
He weighs the nations in a scale, 
Whose measure 's true and never fail. 

Justice doth long the balance hold, 
That weighs the time, both new and old ; 
And him that doth the mountains weigh, 
Hath placed a star in Israel's day. 

Before the morning sun arose, 
Jehovah did this light disclose : 
The sun will rise, salvation 's near, 
The springs of Judah 's new and pure. 
The corner 's sought, the stone is found, 
And Jacob's God 's again renown'd ; 
And he will house and home restore, 
And Jacob rest forevermore. 

November 28th, 1832. 

Let Israel's name forever stand, 
A monument amidst the land ; 
And his bright sun, and his decrees, 
A banner floating in the breeze. 

It was from him salvation came, 
To him will peace return again ; 
Angels of light assemble there, 
Again will rise his morning star. 

His Saviour sat on David's throne, 
This world 's a kingdom for his own ; 
And all his sons from tribute free, 
His banners perfect liberty* 

Within his gates no tyrants reign, 
His house shall never fall again ; 
The word of God 's the bottom stone, 
And Israel ever dwells alone. 

His gate 's unknown to envious foes, 

His throne well washed from blood and woes; 

His harp 's in tune to never cease, 

His trumpets sound eternal peace. 



26 IMPRESSIONS OF THE MIND. 

November 29th, 1832. 
THE LOVE OF GOD TO THE WORLD. 

Much hath been written — but I must write ; different experience 
affords a different hand writing, and that which is nearest the truth 
will rise uppermost at last. I am persuaded to believe, but few, if 
any, will write on religious subjects after me — or the things of God, 
or the power of religion on the mind. 

I shall not follow the track that others hath laid down to walk by. 
I have known something of myself, and this is my necessity, to testify 
unto the world what things I have received of God. To explain 
a change of heart or mind is hard to those t-hat scarcely believe 
redemption needful to comfort the soul. The dread of hell and the 
fear of God, as far as I have known is safe ground to walk upon, and 
farther I will leave till another day. I know I shall agree with the 
evangelist — for truth is ever the same — though widely differing in 
form. It is still the same in virtue or effect. It was a change of 
mind that the Son of God sought for, what prophets and apostles 
sought for or desired. The scriptures hath become books and texts 
disputable in this world, they came from different minds, but from 
one God ; they are the impressions of his mind, upon the heart of 
man, brought into existence and remain with us. Nothing can be 
added to make them more plain, and nothing should be diminished, 
because they are the words and works of God ; but God can add 
more without taking from them, and as the hill of Sion or Sinai, they 
stand sacred with me, with which I crave no material alteration. 

They first instruct us there is happiness and misery, and we pro- 
ceed on from childhood to prove that such declarations are true. But 
how we receive the one or obtain the other, is a matter disputable in 
this world. I testify that the fear of God is misery to me — and this 
is misery I cannot shut out of my soul or spirit. The Lord the God 
of Jacob keeps the door, and who can hinder to enter in what will, 
or who can forbid the deeds of sin. There is one providential hand 
over all his works, I am convinced, for by trial I know that I can do 
no good thing. We are first made happy we know, and this we 
know without scripture — but in tribulation we may forget there is a 
happy stage of life, and cease to hope for the salvation of the soul. 
It is therefore recorded that man was once happy of great liberty 
and almost unbounded wisdom. God commanded a loss of these 
things ; not by appointments, but by the event of action. 

These things are ordained to come to pass, for this great purpose — 
that man may be sensible there is two kingdoms in God's power, 
misery and joy ; it is not appointed that man shall remain in the first 
©r latter kingdoms, till he is capable of choosing for himself, whether 



LOVE OF GOD TO THE WORLD. 27 

he had rather sin and die, or repent and live. No man or mind is 
capable of choice or choosing these kingdoms to himself, without 
experience, therefore experience is expedient for the salvation of 
the soul. To the hungry soul the bitter herb is sweet, but the full 
soul loaths honey, the sweetest of meat. 

How wonderful are the works of God in the creation ; how wise 
his words, for the salvation of the mind. There are but few men or 
women on earth, but know of being unhappy, and perhaps as few 
that know of being redeemed f-om it ; such cannot read the scrip, 
tures through — nor write a correct line of direction for others, but 
go on apace like a man in youthful follies, and then get lost from 
the way that leads to heaven and God— fall into confused arguments 
that never hath been decided, about testimonies written in the sacred 
lines. I am resolved in pursuing my own understanding and argue 
with none. Strong contesting and argument is productive of an 
equality of sentiment, but we ought always to prove ourselves the 
servant or the master, and so proceed on our heavenly way, for 
experience is a journey or pilgrimage, as from one kingdom to 
another; we all prove to the world we have known the kingdom 
of darkness, and the regions of the dead, or death that bringeth 
forth no light nor salvation to the world : consequently, no rest 
to our limbs or troubled mind. Miserable is man in this lower 
world, full of mistaken notions, for want of light he guesses at 
many objects in this darkness in which he is deceived, and most 
grossly disappointed. The miser flatters himself he has found 
the compass that leads to rest, a piece of shining gold. The 
scriptures plainly tell him he is a liar, and in the end ho finds 
they are true — which his life disputed before. The love of God 
shines brighter to me than gold, and the scripture is to my soul as 
the anointing oil of salvation. Some say that joy consists in eating, 
and drinking, much idleness and mirth ; but death blots out these 
records from the book of remembrance, and in sickness, the shadow 
of death, they comfort nothing. But if I make myself miserable to 
comfort another, my reward is sure, and failelh not in the hour of 
death, for thus God hath commanded the soul. A man in bonds is 
weak, he can do but little for himself; but him that is free is swift on 
the race, and strong in the battle. We are all captives that serve this 
world, and the things thereof; these comfort no man that hungers 
for the bread of life, and the springs of living water, that never fail 
to quench a weary thirsting mind ; these are pearls to be bought, we 
have sold them when we sold our birthright to the kingdom of God ; 
this I call the world to come, or worlds above ; as they can be sold, 
they can be bought, providence offers them at a price, not with 
money can they be bought, but with a change of heart. The unre- 
deemed will say, who can change his own mind ? he may as well still 



28 IMPRESSIONS OF THE WITH?. 

the beating waves of the sea. If God hath made salvation impossi- 
ble it is in vain to try. I know that peace cannot be bought with 
money, but we could lose and we can find ; we have sold and 
we can buy ; and with me there is no disputing about the price of 
our salvation. My soul hath cast off her fears and speaks loudly to 
the world, and not with timidity, as though she was a servant to 
priests and kings that bare rule in this world, and still blind to the 
salvation of these ihat serve under them. My spirit is a servant of a 
noble prince here below, and of God above ; he brings glad tidings to 
my spirit, and that which I once feared I fear no more. I fear no 
hell for what is past — and all my dread is to not offend for years to 
come. Who hid death and hell from mine eyes, till I dread the 
grave no more than the child in the cradle. 

I shall be stigmatized for presumption, if the Lord hath cast away 
my fear what shall I say — shall I lie to please the world, to make 
them think my spirit is like theirs ? No, not for all the earth affords, 
or these in Heaven enjoy. I will give God his due, and breathe out 
his glory to the ends of the world. I have paid the price, and then 
God found it in his holy heart to give. 

I am a man of trouble, but my dwelling is in safety from the temp- 
tations of this world, because the arm of the Lord is about me. I 
have made the choice that is acceptable to his own heart ; why 
should he cast me into hell any more ? Death and hell hath fulfilled 
their office in my spirit, why should they return? they are in chains, 
they are bound with a cord ; but these have been profitable to me, 
the Lord hath appointed them for the sinner's meat, and the drink of 
the slothful. These hath affected my mind to flee from everlasting 
burning; and as I have known the goodness of God — Israel's Sa- 
viour, and Jacob's Redeemer, I must write to the world of what 
groweth upon mine own vine, and bear testimony with the prophet 
and evangelist of old, who brought forth scripture from their own 
mind. 

Oh Lord, shall I presume to tell^ 

The heights of heaven or depths of hell : 

Or shall my spirit loudly sing, 

Of my Redemer and my King ? 

My rest is where no foe invade, 
I bought it when I tribute paid, 
For when I was in bonds and fears, 
I quenched this burning with my tears. 

Jehovah saw me far astray, 
The horrid pit where long I lay ; 
But he commands the flame to cease> 
And bought me with eternal peace. 



29 



THE VENGEANCE OF GOD, ETO. 

He plac'd salvation on my head 
And bid me lead — 'twas captive led, 
He bid me sorrow, mourn, and pray, 
For these that blindly lead astray. 

He bid the powers of death to cease. 
And never more to hurt my peace ; 
He bid my spirit write and rest, 
With these that are forever bles't. 



THE VENGEANCE OF GOD, OR THE SORROWS OF SIN. 

If we can only testify of one kingdom, we acknowledge by such 
an omission, the deformity of the mind, or inability of the soul. Some 
describe hell with a thousand terrors, and affright people with a 
shadow, which is not truth, and seldom or ever proves of lasting 
benefit to the world. Every mind should taste their own meat, and 
him that leads into the path of experience, leads the only right way. 
Hell is where we are alienated to God, where the sweetest of meat 
is bitter ; where nothing comforts the mind, where wine and mirth 
is vain to fallen spirits. This is but hungering and thirsting in 
the flame, this is teaching us where we are — it is net redeeming 
us, nor releasing the bonds, we must be brought submissively pas- 
sive before God — this is the use of the affecting furnace. The 
hardness of the heart must be melted as clay fitted for the work- 
man's use. The whole heart must say, make of me what thou 
wilt, save, release me from these bonds. These are symptoms of 
a preparation to leave this lower kingdom, where thousands of the 
gentry of this age are now dwelling, beyond the power of meat 
or wine to comfort them, nay, nothing will do but the unmerited 
mercies of a Redeemer — nothing short of the whole heart is the 
price of our salvation. God will not receive a blemished or an 
unsanctified offering. The furnace will burn in this world 'till 
many thousands are prepared for the kingdom of God ; and 
Death will throw his arrows 'till he will bring forth salvation in 
the soul, and then he will be b< und for a little season. I write 
extensively in opinion, for writing is my last testimony to the 
Christian world, with which I am not well pleased. It affords so 
many patterns of distinction in big men, that are called Lords of 
the earth ; their example is so corrupt, it leads many thousands 
down to the chambers of death, but a little farther to go, 'till the 
soul sinks into everlasting ruin and despair. They are loudly call, 
ed upon in this age of life to exercise mercy, where they have 



30 IMPRESSIONS OF THE MIND. 

ruled with judgment over poor captivated creature man. It is right 
they should be called upon, but not deny ; consider how the Chris- 
tian world doth suffer, to support pride and luxury. 

Oh blind guides who have thought to be happy with the bread 
of this lower kingdom ! There is far better bread in worlds above, 
the blessing of God to the weary, a drop of water to quench the 
thirst of these whose spirits burn in the vengeance of God, and 
he that receiveth enjoyeth more than princes, and her that re- 
ceiveth, more than queens espoused to kings and potentates of 
the earth. These hunger nor thirst for nothing better, — honey is 
not half so sweet. These love the giver, the flame abates, and 
the redeemed place their affections on the delivering hand. These 
know the sorrows of the pit, where not a crumb of bread or a 
cup of cold water was received with a blessing to the mind. 

Great men receive their patrimony and are still poor, quar- 
reling with the world to serve, hungering for tributes of this 
world, unwilling to give to a man that which is his own, for 
whom they can do nothing. Oh that I could convince the 
world that the kingdoms of this world hath become the kingdom 
of hell, and there is no peace in them. What we enjoy to-day 
is gone to-morrow, and our personal joys flee from us, and leave 
a bitter sting behind — a heart clothed with sorrow or broken 
with grief. I do not dread my years to come. I have no ap- 
pointment from God, but to make the world happy as I can, 
and my rewards are sure, therefore I toil without fear. If I sought 
wages as I work, I should be as the hireling, on every every 
evening and morning receiving wages, but these are in store for 
me — and they are not small, and are measurably manifest in this 
world, whose servant am I, the Lord, Jacob's God excepted. If 
I am not in necessity to borrow wisdom of the dignitaries, am I 
not rich ? that is not to say I know much, but that I can accom- 
plish my appointments, which are God's designs, without injustice 
calling any man Lord, that rules a kingdom here below. To 
whom do I look as father ? to God only, my Redeemer. It was 
not the arm of flesh, that drew me upward from the pit, but 
God saw my soul, that I was passive in his hands, for so the fires 
of hell wrought upon me, it turned my stubborness into clay, 
and my heart melted within me, and I know not but I am 
that that God would I should be. If providence is with me, 
whom shall I fear? If he hath set me free from the bonds of 
the endless pit — who can bind — who can trouble my spirit ? It 
is not in the power of men to afflict more than is profitable, 
but many may offend to tell the world how sinful the soul is 
that is within them, and how far their spirit dwells from God. 
He that too often offends the world reveals that his soul is in 



THE VENGEANCE OE GOD, ETC. 31 

the pit, he is not satisfied, and would that the world would change 
its course for his relief. Poor creature, blind and unjustifiable, our 
salvation is not of the world, but of God. A man is not bound under 
obligations to redeem the world for his release, but pay the debt, — 
the uttermost farthing — and [ testify unto him, the priaon door will 
be set open, he may walk out though ten thousand unrepenting cap- 
tives remain behind in bonds. Pay the debt, and our election is sure. 

God requires an offering of this world, that kings and prin- 
ces will have to make before the kingdoms of this world be- 
come the kingdoms of God and Christ. There is no peace 
where sin remaineth. Righteousness is a perfect liberty. I am 
bound to no man, though I am not clean before the Lord ; but 
as there are but few more so, it hath pleased God to make me 
more free than the dignitaries of this world, who seemingly de- 
pend altogether on their subjects to make them happy ; these 
begin to refuse their tribute, kings and priests begin to mourn. 
Happy man am I, I had none to lose, nor never knew that I 
needed any, I only want a crumb of bread and a cup of water 
with justification from the hand of God, and my spirit is happier 
than the souls of princes on whom the wrath of God abides — 
Why is the earth sorrowful ? because of tributes — because it is 
the sorrows of sin, the downfall of pride and luxury, therefore 
the servants of these practices that God hath forbid, mourn ; 
there is a worm at the root of their joys, I know of none at 
the root of mine ; I have nothing in this world to glory in but 
tribulation, and this keeps me out of temptation, and is proper 
bread for years to come. The more I seek the more I find, 
the more I ask the more is given : as my great thirst is pasture 
for the flocks, and not for mine own spirit, for I am rich while 
I seek, and inherit while I am sorrowful ; for I think myself 
safe in the hands of him that drew me upward from the pit, 
and bid the flame abate, and now I have said much this day, 
and committed these lines to memory. 

Where is the witness of these things ? I write of myself in- 
dependent of other men — I must produce mine own witness as 
an introduction to believe these things which I have writ- 
ten. I appeal to God, and publish to men, that I never 
seek for dominion over my fellow worm, yet, dominion to me 
is given by the strength of reason, and power of understanding, 
and powers and princes cannot take it away. I never murmur 
because of a low station of life, for I enjoy all that earth af- 
fords, and more than courts and counsels can contain. My life 
is without disputing, and from me the reasoner is far away. 
No man can call me servant, nor say I am under obliga- 
tions to com© at his command. I have not robbed these young 



32 IMFRESSI0N3 OF THE MIND. 

in experience, nor have I been chargeable to the house of the 
Lord. 

I have not -been slack on the race ; nor swift for wages, who 
hath been my example in latter days? Or who but God shall 
I call the Lord? He hath quenched the flames of his wrath, 
cooled the burning vengeance, and bid me write their purpo- 
ses and appointments as I have known in my soul, for these 
are his decrees after me, and his appointments from the foun- 
dations of the world. The flame abates with every repenting 
sinner ; but with the wicked, hell is forever, and the burning 
flames thereof hath no end. 

Oh how can I delay ! 
My spirit loudly sings, 
Far from the flame she 's borne away, 
And rides on angel's wings. 

The love of God is strong, 
No towers half so high, 
He lets me see my journey 's long, 
Nor in it's fears to die. 

Death 's bounded with a chain, 
And all his arrows still, 
And long in bonds will he remain, 
For he 's forbid to kill. 

The fields around are green, 
And mine ? s a shepherd's care, 
And large and hung'ring flocks are seen, 
Ready to enter there. 

My soul 's a living spring, 
That pleasures doth afford, 
Where flocks doth meet and maidens sing, 
The comforts of the Lord. 

The gentle dews descend, 
Upon the spreading ground, 
It is where Jacob's sorrows end, 
And he commands his foes 

Where widow's tears doth cease, 
Nor her small orphans cry : 
It's like unto the land of peace 
Where springs doth never dry. 

It's Jacob's fold of rest, 
No brute can enter there ; 
The home where all his flocks are bless'd, 
And safe in David's care. 



[ 33 J 

LET THE EARTH HEAR, AND THE INHABITANTS OF THE 
WORLD GIVE AUDIENCE. 

The Lord will make a new covenant with the house of Ja- 
cob and Israel his son, he will redeem the children of this world 
to hear his word, to worship and adore his statutes day by day ; 
these shall be written in their hearts to do them, and keep them 
in remembrance forever. He hath drawn a line between his own, 
and the children of this world, these are they whose own de- 
crees are the laws of their heart, and by these sin against God 
in word and deed, and profane the sacred laws of the most right- 
eous. I am confirmed in these opinions, or sentiments of mind, 
and record them here to be read hereafter when I shall be no 
more. The Lord is breaking up the peace of this world. Kings 
and kingdoms tremble at his command. Death is an arrow sprung 
from the bow of his vengeance, and regardeth not the inhabi- 
tants of the earth. Flee my soul to the ancient hills where God 
embraced his people, leave the kingdoms of this world in haste, 
they are tossed as the billows of the sea, the wicked shall find no 
rest, every pillow shall prove false to them by night, and their sun 
shall be darkened by day, and the moon and stars shall refuse to 
guide, because of the pride and wantoness that darkens the soul, and 
binds understanding in a prison that she walks not the streets by day 
neither is her balance seen in the earth. Now we will begin to 
speak of titles and begin at the house of Jacob, the dream that God 
gave to Joseph, the same is truth and is wonderful to mine eyes. 
His father compares with the Sun — his mother with the Moon, and 
his brethren with stars, eleven in number, himself the twelfth ; as the 
stars and constellations of Heaven see where God hath placed these 
ancient characters on earth, and then number the man that can re- 
move them ; there is none, no not one. I plead for the house of Ja- 
cob because it is the tabernacle of God, and giveth light to the world 
that never will decay, all the Prophets and the Son are of this. Think 
ye the house will be destroyed, and these live ? nay root and branch 
shall be saved, and my soul is as a limb of Jacob that hath fallen to 
the earth from the kingdom of God, not fallen into sin but hath arisen 
in Jacob's name to plead his cause, which pride and superstition, 
bigotry and zeal hath almost blotted out. It never will decay — 
herein is the singular difference between me and other labouring 
servants of the age. I am for the covenant that God hath made 
with his people of old, to be renewed, and others are for exalting the 
Christian dispensation ; to the destruction and abolition of of the cov- 
enant of old with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the Son of God. 
c 



34 IMPRESSIONS OF THE MINI). 

Invariable are the works of God, all days have their measures and 
their blessings. I believe in a union and equality of the covenants 
that God hath made. With him all days are alike. Abraham was 
as acceptable to God in his day, age, and generation, as any Pro- 
phet or Apostle in the world. 

Why should we veil that which God hath bles't? Let all the earth 
attend to hear, let every lamp burn that God hath lighted, and min- 
istering servants, despise them not, for those that try to blow them 
out will spend their breath in vain. Israel will be restored and the 
Christian world unite with the house of Jacob and own his sons to be 
apostles of the Lord. I write these things to inform the mind of my 
bretheren to be wise in action — for you see my kindred and my 
friends, that kings and priests are running their ship or church on 
shore, and destruction rather than peace appears. The spirit of this 
world inspires to action and self-importance, holds the reins of go- 
vernment, but God will not be mocked, he will have anew covenant. 
Run not after these, for them that run will fall. 

The east will be a land of trouble for many years, and thence 
Jacob's name will arise in it, for God will restore government unto 
Abraham and Moses again, I say not unto dead men but their spirit 
will prevail in this world, (and this is the resurrection of the dead 
spoken of in scripture) and their foes will be subdued by the strength 
of their wisdom. The arm of the Lord is in their favour to raise 
them up, and my soul will have place with them on that day, and my 
spirit dwell in the midst of the house of Jacob — 'and in the tents of 
Israel. 

Fear not the approaching hours, our name will not be blotted out, 
though there will be great tribulation in the land, for the God of 
Jacob is not preparing the trumpet to speak peace to the world, but 
to sound an alarm. Give audience, the truth is plain. Hath not the 
morning star already risen, do we not see as we once saw not 1 Look 
not for a greater confirmation that God will change the heart of 
this world, and make the inhabitants his own. 

The heart of the bridegroom now faileth in the bride, and the heart 
of the bride in the bridegroom. The harvests of this world are 
growing lean, the Fig tree casts her figs out of season, the Corn 
ripeneth not with the usual blessing, the comforts of this world are 
blasted and blasting because the Lord hath smitten the Christian 
world with a curse of much trouble — and sorrows still attend our 
gates. House is dividing against house, subjects against their rulers 
and disciples against their priests— and flocks rise up against their 
their shepherds, because their banks are bare, and the springs of 
water faileth them, their consolation is drank up in wine, and Gover- 
nors feast on their crumbs of bread, their basket is light, and their 
flocks without number. And woe to the priests of this age, they have 



LET ALL THE EARTH HEAR, ETC. 3d 

led the Christian world to the land of sorrow — and her inhabitants to 
desolation — till the flocks are starving for crumbs of bread. I pledge 
mine own heart in the hand of God, and my reputation amongst 
men, that there will be a new covenant with the house of Jacob and 
Israel his son. And the above written instances are the signs of 
the coming thereof. 

Hail happy day that I shall see, 
Hail happy year the jubilee, 
That takes the captive from his bands, 
And breaks the iron from his hands. 

No foe shall rise his feet to bind, 
No adder shall the compass find, 
To lead his pen or lead his tongue, 
To where the jubilee is sung. 

Oh bless the morning of our days, 
All ye that join the house of praise, 
With harp, good Abraham's God adore, 
And sing his praise forevermore. 

December 2nd. 

Though kindred sleep and friends decay, 

And shining suns decline, 
My spirit seeks her hidden way 

Through sorrow and through time. 

Veil'd deep in sorrow truth doth lie, 

With servants in the grave ; 
For they at first were born to die, 

And rise, the world to save. 

Come prophets to my spirit come, 

Your deeds to me apply ; 
Tell me how you such favors won, 

Such pleasures when you die. 

Leave me not long in dull delay, 

Where I too long have been ; 
Come, come and bear my soul away, 

My spirit clothe unseen. 

Let fruit upon the vine appear, 

Lord let my spirit bear ; 
Call children home and shepherds near, 

To gather pleasures there, 
c 2 



36 IMPRESSIONS OF THE MIND, 

Let fruit be seen upon the vine, 
And waters in the sprino- ; 

Let bread appear for flocks of thine, 
And David Israel's King. 



December 5th. 
HUMILITY IN ROYAL APPAREL. 

Fair one, my soul smiles to behold thy glory, my spirit is thirsty 
for thy embraces ; come unto me, and take up thy rest in mine habi- 
tation. Why shouldest thou travel all the day in the heat of the sun 
and then not reach thy desired habitation by the evening shade ? 
I will go out into the street to salute thee with love, and court thy 
favours, with the prayers and supplications of my spirit. Thou wast 
the bride of the apostles, and the consort of prophets, thou took up 
thy rest in the chambers with priests of old ; but now thou art for- 
saken, and mourns as a widow. Thou hast come down from Israel's 
God — Jacob's Saviour, to seek a habitation here below, and shew 
the glory of thy fair breast — and the fruit of thy bosom unto an 
exalted world. 

I have seen, and I will declare of thee these excellent things or 
pearls that thou containest, and then if possible count thy affections 
with groans and sighs, that thou will make the bounds of my spirit, 
now and then a resting place for thy weary feet, and my bosom or 
heart a refuge from the beating storm. The sons and daughters of 
pride throw their arrows at thee, thou art often wounded and art 
without defence. Let the arrows of the wicked, Oh God, that are 
aimed at the breast of this fair one, be thrown at my soul, that my 
heart may shield her bosom from their deadly wounds. Priests 
profess her in this age, but she is used as an harlot by them : they 
borrow her name, but practice not her precept. Her name is a staff 
for them to lean upon ; but their delight and chief joys, are with the 
deluding and alluring daughters of an unreformed world ; they 
embrace them in the street, they ride with them in gaudy apparel, 
they take them to their homes, and embrace them in the secret place. 
These are the temptations of time, prevalent with us all, without 
denial they reign over us as gods in the earth. Ohhumilitv, these 
are no guests for thee, neither doth their servants embrace thy love ! 
Oh that I might be found worthy of thine offections, thou fair one 
the mother of truth, plainess of speech and of royal apparel. Truth 
is in thy courts, justice rules and reigns on thy right hand. Thy 
countenance is fair as the Sun, thy character is without blemish 



HUMILITY IN ROYAL APPAREL. 37 

before the Lord. Thy sparkling eyes are as the morning light, 
thou ornamentest the western sky with the rays of thy justice. Thy 
spirit is from God, thou sitest upon the highest throne with him — 
thy days are forevever, and thy years without end. Oh that I could 
behold thy hands, and the direction of thy fingers for my soul— for 
then she could act and not be condemned, and plant where none 
could remove. Humility, I am more in want of thee than my natural 
food, and more art thou to be desired than the court of kings. 

Prepare my heart O God, for this fair one, make bare my bosom 
to receive her embraces, for she awaits in the streets all the day for 
a calling ; she offers not unto the world as the sons and daughters of 
temptation do ; she is worthy to be courted, hailed and saluted with 
the best and most tender affections of this world. She maketh the 
whole house happy, the place of her abode. She is dressed in new 
garments, the world knew her not, she has passed by the court of 
kings, and the throne of princes, she is traveling to the western sky. 
Hail her all ye my bretheren, and despise her not, as her kindred 
hath done in the East. She planted a vineyard in the East in the 
morning of her days, and committed it to the care of priest and kings. 
These were not content with the tender grapes that grew upon the 
vine, nor the Fig trees that were lawful for them. These grew 
careless, and left open the gates thereof by day, neither did they 
watch upon her walls by night. The sons and daughters the 
offspring of temptation broke through, and did steal, they clothed 
themselves with her name, and shewed her apparel on earth ; but the 
blood of the prophets were not within them, neither were their heart 
clothed in scarlet, the blood of the saints, and these forgot to watch, 
and slumber on the bed of ease, and reaped the harvests of the earth. 
These became as a traiterous husband to humility, who would have 
been their continuing bride, and filled their heart and house with 
everlasting joys. 

Nay, this covenant with humiliation was not sufficient, the priests 
of almost every description went out a courting the daughters of this 
world ; they entered into covenants that were not lawful for them, 
and kept not to the line of the Apostles of the Lamb, or prophets of 
old ; but took for their example the tithe gatherers in Israel, which 
was lawful for them, but not for priests of the everlasting covenant, 
the gospel of eternal truth. They committed fornication, and hu- 
mility hath forsaken them, and the priests are found with unlawful 
rights and pleasures, like so many manners with a band of harlots. 

Now they have to settle the debt with God, and men ; they are 
called to an account by these of whom they have received unlawful 
tribute ; and by God for what they have done with the vineyard 
committed to their trust—the glorious reformations of the East— - 

c 3 



38 IMPRESSIONS OF THE XINP.. 

New Testament doctrines with many faithful martyrs that were 
committed to their trust. If they spoke against their superstition, 
ignorance and bigotry, they must be slain; and if they avowed 
against their worldly interest they were found worthy of scourging, 
imprisonment and bonds. This generation of teachers have all 
these deeds to answer for to the living God ; for it is the year of 
accounts, and then cometh the jubilee that will remove no more. 
Come humility, be not ashamed of me, I will embrace thy feet, I will 
lead thee in with tender hands, if thou will come with me. I know 
thou art worthy of supplication and prayer. Thou art the daughter 
of the most high God committed to the souls of men, for thy ever- 
lasting rest. I am ready, — I am willing to receive thy embraces — 
break covenants with the earth — and follow thee. Behold my soul, 
oh friend of my salvation ! point thine holy hands to the spots and 
blemishes that thou beholdest, they will remove at thy commands, 
s — my love is to thee more than the throne of princes, — to thee will I 
perform my vows,— with thee will I not not .break covenants for- 
evermore. 



Thy robes are scarlet and they're white^ 

No human eye can see ; 
The beaming rays by morning light, 

That doth descend from thee. 

Thy hands are as the lillies are, 

Thy eyes are as the dove ; 
No vine on earth with thee compare. 

No breast so filled with love. 

No tower can be half so high, 

No mantle half so red ; 
Thy feet are where the saints did die, 

And where the prophets bled. 

Thy mantle's white in prophets' blood, 
Wash'd from the direful slain, 

Descending from the living God, 
Forever to remain. 



A partner for my beating breast, 
Thou art designed to be ; 

Thine hands the pillars of my rest, 
My spirit feet for thee. 



[ 39 ] 



EXALTATION NAKED TO THE WORLD. 

Oh daughter of deceit, thine heart is dark as the midnight shade, 
thy sorrows hath no end, and thou art never still. Thy prayers 
are never accomplished ; the Lord is deaf to thy supplication, and 
Jacob's God to hear thy cries. Thou dwellest in the corners of the 
streets all the day long — thou hast courted priests, and these have 
embraced thee for wages. Thou hast given to thy princes and 
nobles the highest places in the world. Thou hast oppressed the 
poor, with a hand of iron from thy dark heart, which is as clay in 
the midst of the tomb. Death is written in thy forehead — thou hast 
ten thousand enemies — the poor and the humble hath cursed thee 
with ten thousand curses, and sealed thee with an everlasting sea', 
to rise no more. Thou art indebted to men, and hath not wherewith 
to pay. 

Thy priests are as dogs whose teeth are worn — they cannot hold 
the prey, they are hated — and not beloved in all the earth. Thy 
countenance is falling, and is as the evening shade — thy sun is setting 
to rise no more. Thou art as a naked harlot in the street and without. 
a garment to cover thy shame from the world. Thou hast led little 
ones captive, — thou art the destruction of children, and lead parents 
down to hell. Thou art near-sighted, and seeth not that which is to 
come — and is decreed of God. Thy books all consist of the present 
moment of time. Reward is hid in them from thine eyes. Thou 
hast courted kings and kingdoms, to thy breast ; they have drawn 
their wine therefrom, and became as drunkards in the day time — 
thy judges reel in courts as a drunken man, and thy juries are blind 
to justice — and false are all thy decrees. Thy name is blotted out 
under Heaven — thy offspring will be weak in years to come, and 
wandering long to find their rest. Thy springs of consolation are 
gone dry — the inhabitants of thy bosom are angry, because their 
time is short here below. Jesus saw thy prince fall from glory, and 
exceeding angry in the earth because his kingdom hath an end. 
Thou inspirest to pride, and to oppression ; the poor mourn beneath 
the burden of thine hand and cast floods of tears at thy feet to affect 
thine eyes ; all are dark with thee. Thou dwellest in the regions 
of darkness, the sun never shone upon thee, nor moon nor stars hath 
ever given thee light. Thou art the daughter of distress, the bride of 
princes, the concubine of kings, the harlot of priests ; thou hast 
deceived. Thou took the hireling into thy chamber for wages, he 
will return naked to the world, and long repenting of ever tasting or 
drinking at the springs of thy false consolation. Thou hast made 
him poor that sought to be rich. Thou hast robbed the world of his 
wages, and clothed thy beloved with the wages of sin. Thy flocks 



40 IMPRESSIONS OF THE MIND. 

cry loudly unto thee, but thou cannot answer their bleating. Reason 
is far from thee and justice is unknown to thy guests. How wilt 
thou feed, poor one ! the children of God demand their own, thou 
hast gathered the grapes for many years, but a greater than thou art 
is the earth, the hand of the living God, and the balance of justice. 
The same arose not in thy courts, but far from thee but as an army 
that rose between the setting and the rising sun, so hath justice made 
her appearance, and found thee unarmed, the world rejoices at thy 
downfall, thou harlot of oppression, that led churches captive with 
thy delights. The widow and the fatherless mourn because of 
thee, while thou art drunken with wine, and clothed with deceit. 
Thou stole the priest's robes that were of old, to cover thy nakedness, 
and in these garments thou hast destroyed the peace and tranquility 
of this world. Thousands have bled for thee, free-born children 
have stained the earth and the sea with their blood for thy support ; 
thou art fallen at last, thou hast no resting place in the mind of this 
world, thou art hated because of priests thou hast sent abroad, thou 
filled their lips with decrees, and then bid strangers welcome in ; and 
when members came within thy gates, thou shut to the door upon 
them, thou blindfolded them, and then reached forth thine iron hands 
in darkness, to the spoiling of the goods of the poor to thy support. 
Thy feet are on false pillars, and all thine house is sand, mouldering 
down to dust and there to lie in everlasting ruins. Who will mourn 
for thee ? the inhabitants of the earth will rejoice in thy disease, thy 
priests and princes may wear sackcloth forever. Kings and councils 
may mourn over thee, that thou hast deceived. Little children will 
come short of thy forbidden breast, thy springs are turning dry, and it 
will be well if the waters thereof are not turning into blood, and thy 
attendants fight for thy cause. Oh deceiver of the world, I behold 
thee this morning as thou art, and what thou hast done to the sons and 
daughters of men, the powers of heaven are against thee, and thou art 
hated with a perfect hatred here below; thy drink is made bitter as gall, 
thy meat as wormwood, and thou partakest with a curse from this world. 
No son of justice reaches forth his hand to thy support, — thy fall is 
appointed and decreed, and will assuredly come to pass. The inha- 
bitants of the earth are against thy standing, they stone thee, and 
thou hast no defence, thy looks are pale as ashes, thy countenance 
burns with indignation, the fires of hell are in thy bosom, and thou 
hast nothing to heir to them that are looking up to thee, — thou art 
cursed of the most high God. Thy shame covers the whole earth, 
thy garments are divided with the world, and thy rewards are a curse 
for thy distribution. Thou hast taken from one, and given to another ; 
these things that belonged not to thee from the foundations of the 
world. Thou art a criminal in courts — thou walkest in chains, and 
irona are on thine hands, thou art condemned, and crowns nor princes 



EXALTATION NAKED TO THE WORLD. 41 

cannot release thee ; thy place of execution is over hell, — thou wilt 
be remembered with indignation for evermore. Thy stain is of a 
deep die. Thy blood is darker than the shades of the night ; to these 
God has given moon and stars, but thou hast no light at all ; thou art 
as a body without a soul, thy guests are bodies of clay, their end is 
with the dead, they never placed a compass on earth for the feet of 
men, nor lighted a lamp in the night season, — they were born to 
sorrow, and their lives to decay ; their station, the most miserable 
amongst men ; for their disease, there is no physician, there is no 
help, they rose to fall by thy invitation ; they exalted themselves 
above the prophets, and the saints. Oh thy blind eyes have proved 
their ruin ! Oh that my soul may ever behold thee as I do this day ! 
and shun thy invitations, as the gates of hell, for thine end is in the 
silent chambers of death. The brutes will rejoice over thy grave, 
they have swiftly carried thee from place to place, and thy sons to 
battle — when in justice they should enjoy a quiet rest. Thou art 
the misery of man and beast, a tyrannical oppressor of the poor, the 
blindness of kings and princes, the delusion of priests and the mise- 
ries of the world; thy bread is bitter in years to come, and thy wine 
is mingled with gall that thou hast in store for thy beloveds : strangers 
will hate thy bosom and pass thee by, thy sun is setting to rise no 
more. Thy evening sun is clouded with blood ; there will be wars 
and blood Concerning thee ; and many bodies untimely buried in the 
ground. Disease will visit the nations because of thy decrees, and 
the physician flee from the terrific sound of death. Poor creature ! 
who would have made thyself rich on the spoils of others, and have 
placed thy banners as high as the sun in the skies ; thou would have 
illuminated the whole world with thy false light, but God and Christ 
would not suffer thee to reign. The voice of the prophet is raised up 
against thee, thou hast disquieted the tombs of the dead. The ancient 
lawgivers in Israel curse thy name, and crucify thee without the 
gates of a New Jerusalem descending from God out of heaven. 
Thou art neither numbered with the prophets nor apostles, Abraham, 
Isaac nor Jacob — where wilt thou dwell ? Flee to the desert to hide 
thy shame, and perish in everlasting darkness ; it is decreed for thee, 
and binding chains for thy feet. Thou art unworthy to live or dwell 
with the children of men ; thou hast arisen in the days of our child- 
hood, and deceived many, but thy decree is to reign no more. 
Humility is established in thy place to reign forever. Thou art 
dethroned, thou art forever done, thine end is with the dead, there 
never will be a resurrection of thy power. Thou ruined Israel of 
old, and thou art the downfall of the christian world. The heathen 
will not receive thee, thy character is darkness in all the earth, a 
queen thou hast been (but now a widow) exalted above Sinai. Horeb 
was not good enough for thy dwelling, thou placed thy feet on Zion, 



42 IMPRESSIONS OF THE MIND. 

and from thence is thy downfall forever. Thou hast dwelt in the 
bosom and spirit of priests, the highest station in life, but now thou 
art forever done, so saith my soul. Amen. 

Oh widow who can mourn for thee, 
Though long and loud thine offspring cry? 
Parentless is thy family ; 
For they were only born to die. 

No joys nor life ne'er marked thy tomb, 
For death 's in chains where thou doth lie. 
A cloud o'ershadowed thee at noon ; 
Thine angels doth in darkness fly. 

Death is engraven on their wings, 
The hand of God is writing there, 
An end to priests, an end to kings, 
Jehovah in his wrath doth swear. 

Humility is called to rise, 

From the deep tomb where long she 's lain, 

Shine as the sun amidst the skies, 

And on her wings a Saviour's name. 



December 6th, 1832. 

When time to come spread out her wings, 

I saw her golden name ; 
She sorrow to my bosom brings, 

And fills rny heart with pain. 

She early from the tomb arose, 

And took her flight by da5 r ; 
She 's restless in a world of woes, 

Deep sorrows to obey. 

By night she to my bosom came, 
And found my soul in prayer ; 

Then on my heart she wrote her name, 
And cloth'd me with despair. 

On her bright wings I saw my name, 
She spread them forth as gold ; 

And from the tomb she early came, 
The mournful days of old. 



THE BLESSING OF GOD TO SINNERS. 43 

Her wings were stain'd with prophets' blood. 

She bid my soul arise ; 
Oh then her name I understood, 

My spirit heard her cries. 

She bid me move from hill to Hill, 

Her bosom to declare ; 
A thousand smiles her face did fill, 

And her sweet bosoms bare. 



December 7th, 1832. 

THE BLESSING OF GOD TO SINNERS. 

The mercies of God are incalculable, and his ways past finding 
out; his wisdom as the depths of the sea, and his love to the world 
without end. He beholdeth in darkness where we see not, and he 
seeketh after the soul that is lost ; he meeteth the humble with kind 
embraces, he stumbleth the exalted sinner in his ways. He con- 
foundeth the integrity of the exalted ; he maketh his steps broken, 
and his own hands layeth a snare for his own feet. These things 
he hath determined in his everlasting counsels, and his decrees will 
have no end. Sinners, look upon these lines with me ; let us behold 
our own image and fear to die, for with us God is not well pleased. 
I have part with you in experience, but I am not at present partaker 
with you in your guilt. I am a friend to sinners in the hands of 
God, forgiving many and loudly accusing the world of falling short 
in God's glorious purposes in the creation. A man that is lost 
knoweth not what to do, nor where to go ; for he knoweth not where 
heaven is, nor that the darkness of the lost is about his feet. He 
wanders to and fro, and findeth no rest. Heaven is hid from his 
eyes, and repentance is obscured from his soul. God appears in 
mercies to him like the rising of the sun from the shades of the 
night, and he declareth unto him in positive terms, — " I am the way." 
What doth he desire of us, save that we should be happy (for this 
is the purpose of our election) and praise him for our redemption 
forevermore. He seeketh after us for our own soul's sake, which 
he hath given, and breathed into us when we breathed the breath 
of life. Now let us contemplate upon his goodness, and see if 
reasons can be given why we should not obey. Doth the earth 
contain more than heaven hath to give? Can we be comforted 
without his favors? No, not one. Where is wisdom to be found 
but in the bosom of the Lord? Where is direction for our feet but 
in the tabernacles of his grace ? Where can the mind rest but in 
his presence ? Who hath sold his counsels and have somewhat to 



44 IMPRESSIONS OF THE MIND. 

boast? Oh foolish man, (because he will be so,) is there not power 
in heaven to convince men of error? and convert the mind to choose 
the commands of God for the paths of life ? He hath not written 
to blot out, nor draw lines to condemn ; they are to assist men in 
wisdom, and make his daughters wise. A child left to himself is a 
prey to this world ; self is not to be trusted in. Nature is not cor- 
rupt in itself, but never was made to dwell alone. As a brute with- 
out eyes, so is a man without the presence of the Lord ; he runneth 
into the fire or into the water, and drowns his soul in affliction. 
How can he see peace where the Deity hath not appointed it? 
There is none, — vain man, the space is empty to comfort, and there 
the world mourns this day, — thence we meet with untimely deaths, 
there nothing is sure. Let me entreat thee, vain man, to be wise, 
and my children to forsake the paths of folly. The end is eternal 
ruin ; there is no recovery from the pit when the tree is once fallen. 

What inspires me to plead ? If I am saved, what will all the rest 
of the world be to me? Let me tell you, and attend to hear, it is a 
Redeemer's love in my soul for the whole world. I have no interest 
here for pleading ; but great are my rewards in heaven if I continue 
till the end doth come. 

I know of the goodness of God, and speak with confidence. I 
know his love to increase, and his anger to abate ; and this he has 
given me for them that hear. My heart is as free from indignation 
to men, as the water spring is of the blood of saints. 

Many things are required of me that are hard to give. The chief- 
est of these are to write a path of salvation for the sons and daugh- 
ters of men ; not hard if I can be passive in the hand of God, and 
keep my rebellious will in subjection, till the hand of God doeth the 
work. Him that knoweth not cannot draw the line ; but him that is 
led to the fountain of mercies can tell the truth, and err not in the 
path of direction. I dare not say come with me, for this is a com- 
mand that belongeth to God only, and pertaineth not unto the child- 
ren of men. If every priest or scribe in this age would assume the 
title of command, the world would be torn in a thousand parts like 
a garment that none can mend. 

I assume no direction to the mind, but speak freely of the deeds 
of life, that enables the mind to become an acceptable sacrifice or 
offering to God. Given to him for his direction, therefore, as to 
what pertaineth both to the deeds of a civil and religious life, I say, 
Come with freedom. 

Behold the mercies of our God, and be at peace ; there is but one 
God, and all men are created to serve. Is not the wages of a right- 
eous life sufficient to tempt thee to leave thy sins? What is the end 
of our temptations to sin ? The servants of God hath said, " The 
wages of sin is death." If we leave this text without explanation, 



THE BLESSING OF GOD TO SINNERS* 45 

we shall gain nothing by the quotation ; and as Scripture is too often 
used, it would only be a repetition without the addition or explanation 
of sense. Therefore, let us say as death is the most terrifying mes- 
senger sent from God, and is styled the king of terrors, so are the 
consequences of our sins : they are received with groans, and the 
giving up of the ghost. We have to yield our hope to God that 
directed us in the hour of temptation, and fall far short of our 
•expected joys. This is a day of Judgment indeed : it brings temp- 
tation to the test ; and the experienced hath compared it to vital 
death, that destroys the hope and comfort of the soul that is within 
us. Can we believe no body, and yet continue to sin? Do we not 
act as though the Scripture were lies, and the prophets fools, and 
the saints vain talkers about the things of God ? I persuade you to 
hear them ; their spirit is with me, although they are personally not 
here. I am not sent to blot out their work, or to increase the family 
of infidels. I think I have heard their word in my soul. I think 
the prophets hath prophecied to me, and I shall see the event ; the 
saints hath called me, and I attend to hear, and I am persuaded that 
which hath been so good for me would be good for you also. Is not 
the cup placed to your lips? why will ye not drink? Is not bread 
from heaven spread on the table before you ? Can the temptations 
of a few moments of time here below be sufficient to offer to God 
as an excuse for not partaking these blessings? If I had partaken, 
and become an idiot in the land, it would have recommended you to 
have shunned the fountain where I have partaken. Have I not 
received talent enough to encourage you forward? Am I not 
strengthened by this daily bread, in many respects to be an example 
of self-denial to the world, to promote God's honour? For this is 
the purpose of the creation, and the eternal interest of the soul, and 
a treasure laid up where death never comes ; neither can the terrors 
of the grave, like the pleasures of this world, take these things away. 

I am sincere, and cannot lie, 

To flatter I 'm afraid ; 
The time is short till we shall die. 

And is our tribute paid? 

A thousand debts to God we owe, 

To us his kingdom came ; 
Our spirit us'd him as a foe, 

His will was never done. 

Oh sinful race of human kind, 

The danger 's deep before ; 
Come read salvation in my mind, 

And sin nor seeJc no more. 



4S IMPRESSIONS OF THE MIND. 

The sun arose from nightly shades, 
'T was long in sackcloth clad, 

And shone upon our sinful heads, — 
Such light none others had. 

My soul, a stranger from afar, 
Came to your gates to pleads 

For I beheld the morning star, 
— God's tender hand to plead. 



THE JOYS OF THE PENITENT. 

I am alone, saith the Reformer, and none tasteth the cup with 
me ; mine eyes behold that — that the sinner cannot see. The 
waters are sufficient for my thirst, and the Spirit of God as wine to 
cheer my thirsting soul. My bread is equal to my necessity, and I 
know no want, but there is meat to supply. I cannot give to another, 
I alone am the heir of these things. I cannot comfort the wicked, 
nor put the taste of honey to their lips ; but I can tell them where 
it is to sell, and how my kindred and friends can buy. The poor in 
this world hath admittance there, and they are invited to the tables 
of the Lord. He requires the wedding garment, and then the guest 
is ready. Clothe yourselves with other repenting sinners that hath 
lived before you, and the mercies of God are ever ready ; the foun- 
tain hath not ceased to flow, neither is the store house of the Lord 
broken up. Offer the offering and obtain, for every reformer testi- 
fied it is good. Who cannot believe ? Who can be so foolish in 
their choice as to refuse the overflowing favours of the mercies of 
our God ? Who hath tasted and wants to turn to the world again ? 
These that fall in religion are no temptation to my feet to run after 
them. They not only lose character here below, but blessings in 
heaven above ; they are ever mocked of sinners, and laughed to 
scorn by an uplifted world. Oh my soul, shun the pit where they 
fall in ; they seldom or ever rise any more. These are they that 
turn aside in the heat of the day ; they are not willing to suffer 
stripes for religion, unconsidering that these are conviction for sin, 
a just mantle for the heart. These that cannot endure never teach 
rightly, they cannot strengthen that give way themselves, and the 
want of experience leaves them blind, and they turn aside from the 
way that leads to heaven and God. No true reformer doeth this, 
he counts his interest dear, and his life cheap ; he has set out on the 
race to win the prize. If the pride and glory of this fading world 
runs faster in his mind than his religious exercises and righteous 
deeds of life, he is a fallen captive. He that giveth back after tasU 
ing God's mercies seldom recovers. 



THE JOYS OF THE PENITENT. 47 

I wish our own particular vineyard would consider this, as we hare 
such standing evidences among us. Like the angel that stood with 
one foot on the sea, and the other on the land, they have a name to 
religion, while their soul rests on the things of the earth, the glori- 
ous angel above quoted, expressing by this standing position, or atti- 
tude, that he come to command the land and the sea, and swear by 
him in heaven — to us time should be no more. Oh shocking sen- 
tence to a sinful soul ! I do not write these things with pleasure, 
but turn to my own mind ; the fountain there is not exhausted, nei- 
ther is the spring gone dry. I cannot live by the experience of John 
that saw these things. I must work out my salvation and partake 
also. Great are thy mercies O God to my spirit. Thou taught me 
that knew nothing, and lean teach the young and inexperienced in 
this world, and prove that I have been with thee by these little les- 
sons 1 strew in thy vineyard here below. Forsake me not, my Sa- 
viour and my God ; conduct me on : thy name is truth, light and 
life. Who has titles like unto thee? none but thou alone, my Sa- 
viour and my God. Hold up my head above the waters of affliction, 
suffer not the beating waves to drown my soul ; for thee I was born 
into the world, fulfil thy purpose in me, and let me live for thee. 
Send me to and fro in the world, seeking that which is lost, meeting 
those that are weary, lightening the burden of those that are afflicted, 
and speaking peace to those that glorify thy name, and seek for thee 
more than hidden treasures. Light my lamp O God never to go out, 
place water in the cistern that will never fail, that I may adore thee 
all my life long, and speak peace to the world, when time with me 
shall be no more. These are the reformer's joys ; victory over hell, 
and the pride of this world, — conqueror through faith in the arm of 
power. The spirit of religion is the only source that makes the man 
glorious here below, that washes the spots from his character, puts 
rings on his hands and shoes on his feet. This is the spirit that leads 
him to the feast of fat things. Who can boast above me, my kin- 
dred and my friends, that hath taken any other way, or hath chosen 
the things of this world, that I have denied for the kingdom of God? 
Who is my master to give me command? Who can draw my path- 
way with a pen? What scribe hath taught me to pen the line of 
experience? Who hath been with me in the desert? or hath been 
my judge at court? He that entered into the office came down with 
shame. 

My life is with the poor and afflicted, my spirit drinketh with them. 
The pools of the haughty are long dry to my soul, and I thirst for 
them no more. Day and night increaseth my wisdom, and mine 
understanding. Come with me in action, and lean on the bosom of 
the Lord. This love is not exhausted, the springs overflow for the 
repenting sinner. Come, I am not afraid. Serve the Lord as he 



48 IMPRESSIONS OF THE MIND, 

engraves upon thy mind, from one Sabbath to another. I know no 
want but God's continuing mercy, his love faileth not, and my pen 
never ceaseth, my tongue repeats his goodness, till all is fulfilled, 
then to you I shall be no more. There is a rest in the East for my 
spirit. It is not particular about a point of compass, but the rest of 
the ancients is for my spirit, I toil with them— their spirit is my spirit, 
I am not wise nor strong, but as the child increaseth in strength at 
the mother's breast, so doth my spirit at the bosom of the Lord. 
Sing with me an everlasting song, my praise ceaseth not, and my 
prayer continues for the redemption of the world. Delay not, death 
is near, delay cometh not from the bosom of wisdom, but from the 
lips of deceit; put other beloveds by to embrace wisdom, 'she will 
not deceive thee, she is worthy to be thy sister, thy kinswoman, thy 
bride, and thy friend ; she stands in the gates all the day and calleth 
to thee : her breasts are filled with love, and her embraces are sweeter 
than honey, come away from that which is common and unclean, and 
furnish her table with a guest. 

Fair as the lillies grow, 
Bright as the morning sun, 
Wisdom's fair hands are here below, 
Unto our gates they come. 

Kindred arise and see, 
Her breast and bosoms fair ; 
Her saints are there at liberty, 
Her children bowed in prayer. 

There the sweet clusters grow, 
She is the yielding vine ; 
Her tongue doth conquer every foe, 
Her stars in glory shine. 

Her head 's above the skies, 
Her feet stands on the sea ; 
She bids the billows, and they rise, 
And winds and waves agree. 

She makes eternal peace, 
Engraving with her hands ; 
Her tongue doth speak and never cease, 
To give her guest commands. 

Her hands hath fixed the stars, 
She bids the planets roll ; 
She puts an end to blood and wars, 
And peace she gives the soul. 



[ 49] 

January 7th, 1833. 
THE MERCIES OF GOD TO THE WORLD. 

I have tried the mercies of God ; I have proved him, I have given 
my heart to him, when I was a sinner of deep die and of crimson 
stain. I became burdened with my sins, and cast my soul at his 
feet ; I sought not for great things, but to be released from the 
burden of my guilt, for I have found sin to be a heavy load, and to 
impede my way to heaven. I was bowed in spirit before the Lord ; 
I cast up my necessities before him ; he heard my cry, and was not 
slow to remove my complaint from whence it came, and cast death 
and hell into the lake that burneth with brimstone and fire. He 
separated my soul from guilt, and set the captive free. His love did 
not cease when he had done this, he awakened my sleeping eyes to 
time to come. I beheld him afar off, with the son of peace in his 
bosom, my soul could hear him whisper in the ear — and my heart 
became acquainted with his spirit — he began to teach my limbs to 
move, as he awakened mine eyes to see, and my hands and feet 
began to praise the Lord. 

He began to send me on little errands abroad, like a child in his 
father's care, for without him I could do nothing. In time he cut the 
strings of my lisping tongue, and I could begin to speak with men, 
and reason with them, concerning the divine law, or will of the Lord, 
— I revealed unto them, that my soul had been at school with the 
Lord, in the secret place, or that my spirit had seen the Lord. I 
looked over the broad space of the earth according to the measures 
of my grace, and I could see no master, but God alone. I had given 
him my whole heart, the love of gold became weak in me, as the 
intoxicated drunkard staggering and reeling, fell to the ground and 
could not rise alone, and all that crowns and councils can enjoy would 
not tempt me to love the world again. This world (unblessed) is as 
a treacherous woman, she makes my rest as coals of fire, and lulls 
me to sleep within a pace of hell — I hate her decrees, and renounce 
her friendship, she is the mother of despair, her offspring are the 
judgements of the Lords, her ways are inviting, her reward is death, 
and the end of her days are in hell, and she cannot deliver her cap- 
tives from the bonds of death. All these things have I seen with 
mine eyes, my spirit knoweth them, because I was a captive in her 
chains, and my spirit terrified with the voice of death. Marvel not, 
my kindred, that I turn from her gates, her sweets are bitter, and her 
embraces as wormwood to the lips. I saw Heaven afar off as one 
«eeth a distant land from the mountain of the Lord, even Zion within 



60 IMPRESSIONS OF THE MIND. 

the soul. I got me down from the hills in secret. I hid my spirit 
at the foot of the mountain, till I was found of the Lord. My hand 
is now the evangelist of my spirit : who can write for me, there is 
none knoweth me, not one, it is given me to write, and to speak of 
the Lord, to shew forth Heaven and hell, to the world of men, as I 
have known in my own breast — here the line is drawn, both the up- 
ward and the downward road. The Lord awoke me in time ere I 
embraced the dying pillow, and all the remaining days I owe to the 
Lord, and more than I can do. He saved my soul from death, and 
my spirit from a burning hell. I can speak without Moses and the 
Prophets through the spirit of the Lord. His tongue hath become 
intelligible, and his words the law of mine heart, and by these I daily 
live, though the world know it not. Therefore of necessity I write 
unto them these things they have not seen, neither heard in the ear, 
nor entered into the heart of them that doth not know the Lord. 
The Lord awakened me with a pleasant song, his blessings won my 
love from the world, I found him worthy of mine whole heart, and 
offered him mine all as a sacrifice for sin. The Lord accepted mine 
offering, and I was glad of heart, and my spirit began to sing with the 
spirit of the Lord, and we rejoiced together in the secret place and 
he embraced me with his love, he drew me near his bosom as his 
own offspring, and bid me rest, for I was weary beneath a heavy 
burden, and rest was to my soul as the honey-comb, and more than 
kings and councils could afford. I had found the bosom of the Lord, 
as the lost that had strayed from his rest. I laid up all my trea- 
sures there, that I may be comforted when I am weary, and drink 
when I thirst. He recorded mine offerings in his remembrance, 
which to me is the book of life. If my name is therein written it 
cannot be blotted out, for the Lord is of greater dignity than to alter 
his decree. He put to my lips the cup of the wicked, and I began to 
weep like an infant far astray, for that which I had known. Oh then 
I began to know the Lord — and that there is heaven and hell of a 
truth, I received it from him that cannot lie — conviction began to rise 
about me as an unabated flame. I could not quench the burning flame 
with tears, nor could I dispel this shining light, with sighs as the 
light of the lamp depart. I was a prisoner in the hand of the Lord, 
the chain was too strong for me, it would not part for my struggles. 
I sought for causes and found none. Oh how I wept before the Lord, 
I sought him in the solitary place and found him not — wheresoever 
I placed my feet, an afflicted conscience was burning in my breast, 
and I had no offering for the Lord that would abate the flame — Oh 
then I read through the sinner's life, and saw his mournful end, and 
if any priest or judge should say unto me, thy soul has not been in 
hell, with confidence I could return, he is a liar, and knoweth not the 
Lord. 



THE MERCIES OF GOD TO THE WORLD. 51 

i began to read in the book of experience, and turn over page after 
page, till I fear the world no more, nor the delusions of the self- 
conceited doctrine there is in it. I know of a truth, and it is not in 
the power of men to put out my lamp, so great are the mercies of the 
Lord. When I had endured as much as my spiritual strength could 
bear, the hand of the Lord would relieve me from this spiritual 
Jordan, ere despair took hold on me, to release no more, and I should 
begin to curse the Lord. He drew me home as a lost soul, from a 
far country* he drew me near unto his breast, and that which had 
been as milk to me, became wine to my spirit, and I grew up before 
the Lord> in spirit, and no one knew thereof, — he gave me a 
strange tongue to this world, and the Elders in Israel began to 
pour forth their wrath, as floods of water, and I hid from their 
eyes as one in the wilderness of the land. The Lord forsook me 
not, he fed me in secret, and now I shew forth openly his mercies to 
my soul, and write for the whole earth, to fear the Lord, give glory 
to his name, and extol his praises above the heavens, for he is the 
life and the light of men. My pen shall never cease to give him 
praise, nor my tongue to declare that he is good. I cannot write 
forever, but my hand writing shall ever praise the Lord and be added 
to the house of my fathers, and these that have slept in Israel. 

Continue Lord, thy mercies still, 

My tongue shall give thee praise ; 
My cup doth empty and doth fill, 

And so pass on my days. 

My soul sometimes in highest strains, 

Too loud declares thy love ; 
Sometimes she *s bound with prison chains, 

And's mournful as the dove. 

Prolong my days, my spirit cries, 

'Till all thou woialdst is done ; 
Increase salvation in the skies, 

And hope through years to come. 

Uphold me when the billows rise, 

When loud the tempest roar ; 
When this proud world, her peace denies, 

Make mine election sure. 

Place thou my feet upon a rock, 

That death nor hell can move ; 
And when the powers of hell are broke, 

With saints I'll sing thy love, 
d 3 



52 IMPRESSIONS OF THE MIND. 

Thou drew me upwards from the pit, 
('Twas in thy power to spare.) 

I ne'er thy mercies can forget, 
Nor yet distrust thy care. 

Hope's beaming rays supports my soul, 
Where tides doth ebb and flow ; 

Though calms appear or billows roll, 
I 'm thine, I 'm thine below. 



THE ANGER OF GOD TO THE WORLD. 

The wicked walk on pillars of sand all their days, and at last fall 
into conviction, to rise no more ; the rewards of the wicked are as 
visible as the clouds. As a sky purified from darkness, the deeds of 
the righteous are as stars in their character, that shine forever, so is 
the righteousness of the ancients. When will the light of the 
patriarchs, prophets and apostles be extinguished from the world ? 
I answer with confidence, never : they may be added to, but not 
abolished more than the stars can be removed from the firmament of 
heaven. When will the evil of the past ages receive praise of God, 
or give light to the world ? I answer with the same confirmation, 
never. If we add to these transgression, can we benefit the world ? 
I answer no, but make hell the hotter, or increase the flame. We 
are judged according to our measures, the more is given, the more 
is required, can we plead excuses when so many lines are written, 
so many stars of magnitude hath shone unto us? Our only excuse 
that we can offer unto God, is this — we were called, but would not 
obey. Now let this sentence close up, and turn to the times in which 
we live. Is there no marks of God's providence visible on the world ? 
yea, in abundance, let us read the history of the times and be wise, 
— scarcely a king on the throne, but what trembles with fear, lest his 
dominions be taken away and given to another more worthy than 
himself. This spark of terror rose out of hell. The flame will fol- 
low, except men repent of their evil, and turn to the Lord with their 
whole heart. What terrifies the world 1 the fear of the event of our 
deeds. Why hath famine and pestilence visited many in our 
days? These are marks of displeasure of the Lord, his wrath is in 
store for the rich and the poor that live a sinful life ; if she hath lain 
a few, to terrify the remaining part of the world, receive the same 
as a sign that God is angry with us. Men neither rule nor serve 
according to his will— he is an angry God, and will not be disap- 
pointed in his offering. Misers may give their mind to Estate — and 
Crowns to honour, the youth to mirth, and the aged to the enjoy- 



THE ANGER OF GOD TO THE WORLD. 53 

ments of life. But the Lord requires that which the world halh 
not in store to give. Is he an unreasonable God, requiring that we 
cannot perform? no, he is both reasonable and right — he gave unto 
man his life and breath, and hath a just right to demand them again. 
Can a man give his heart to God that hath given the same to another ? 
Therefore God requires that which the world hath not in store to 
give ; until the miser withdraws his mind from gold, and the king his 
heart from his personal honour, God will not receive the offerings 
of this world. Give him his due, and his anger will abate. Though 
we should offer kingdoms to the Lord in a dying day, it would not 
cool his wrath against our sins, it is righteousness that God requires 
as a recompence for our sins with which we have offended God. 
And him that looks for peace through a change of political govern- 
ment will be deceived. Our peace is in store, and is in heaven 
with God, but we are unworthy to receive, we have not offered him 
the heart as a purified vessel to contain these joys. Where shall he 
bestow? in the fold with the beast? No, the mind of a brute cannot 
contain them, they are designed for the heart and bosom of the man ; 
and no where under heaven will God bestow his favours but in the 
mind of his creature man. If he has enlightened my mind to walk 
before the Lord, reveal truths to the world, or make bare the hidden 
way, — am I not in the pathway of his favours? I measurably earn 
his blessing when I write, and more fully when I speak, for he hath 
promised to all his servants. None can counterfeit his seal or signet, 
his words are truth, and his blessings sure. I can write without the 
direction of any parent on earth, or limb of flesh under the sun ; he 
has given me work to do, and I must be doing. His spirit directs my 
pen. I have no personal copy before me when I write, and when I 
speak, it is from his name alone. Can I leave my employ to serve 
the world? no, not for all the gold the hills contain. What have I 
to yield to temptation ? I have given my heart to God, and nothing 
is mine own, but a moment of time from day to day, and have signed 
and sealed my covenant with him, that time with me shall not be lost, 
neither shall my days win the cursing of God to be poured out on the 
earth — I speak the truth, because the truth is in me. I write plain 
because my path is clear. The cloud removed through repentanee, 
and the sun arose to my soul, as in the watches of the night. I have 
nothing to relate but the mercies of the Lord, and the terror of his 
vengeance, therefore I continue to explain the vengeance of God to 
be worse than the terrors of hell, for this is the flame itself, consu- 
ming our joys, destroying our hope, and cutting us ofF from the 
pleasures of life. Turn from the gates of hell ; the world is in dan- 
ger ; if we die in our sins who can save us ? Are we sure the door 
will not open the day, or the morrow, and take us in ? If the sinner 
is not sure, the penitent is ; his joys are to come, and hope is present 
d 3 



S4 IMPRESSIONS OP THE MIND. 

with him. Cease to sin, sin darkens the world as the clouds dotk 

the heavens, that the sun may shine not upon the earth. The deeds 

of sin are as spots of darkness in the skies, and not as stars of 

everlasting light. If I could teach my brother to refrain I would 

rejoice with him in the day of salvation, I would share with him the 

cup of his blessings and increase my rest in worlds below, the Lord 

teaches he is equal to our necessity, he is neither too fast nor too 

slow. He called me to awake in a needful time, and come while he 

had bread in store for me. If we come with a world of sinners, and 

strive to enter in with the lamb of God, (our works not coming to 

judgment before the dying day,) his words are to us as the piercing 

sword, that cleaves the loins assunder, and our inside is poured out 

on the earth. Oh, sinners ! behold sinners, how dark they are ; 

how their deeds vary from the righteous, too slothful to save their 

own souls and care not that their kindred go down to hell. Their 

spirit seemeth to lie secure in death, shall they not lift up their eyes 

in hell, as him that passeth by in the night season shall relate to his 

neighbor thine house is on fire, arise and abate the flame. If I could 

write forever or speak to the end of my days, I could not repent for 

another. Making atonement for sin, is bringing that down from 

Heaven of which we stand in need, or God commanding through us 

the acceptable offering for our brother's sins. No man can abate 

the flame and leave his brother in sin. Past atonements are, 

praying to God, and preaching to teach the world the paths of 

error and the paths of peace. No soul that sinneth enters into 

Heaven till he is clean, not one. 

W e read of ancient blood being spilt upon the earth, I wish not to 
borrow but to relate : Priest and Prophet hath poured out their lives 
before the Lord, that we thereby might be saved — they feared God 
and loved us, they knew of cursing and blessing. How they did be- 
seech, mourn and pray that men would forsake their sins, and flee the 
burning vengeance of the Lord ! for they knew his anger to be ter- 
rible to the soul, and consuming to all the pleasures both of a natural 
and spiritual life. I am not depending on the world for her joys, 
and therefore court her not, I have once known her false consolation 
nor covet more at her hands. The thrones of kings are but as 
sand hills before the Lord, the Lord will beat them down in a tempest 
that serve him not. He will take from some and give unto others, 
till government rest on whom he will, but the reward of the righteous 
shall not be taken away. The praise of the Lord is worthy, and well 
pleasing in his sight ; the harp shall not cease that is offered to the 
Lord, but the music of kings and their courts shall fail, there shall 
be mourning and not mirth in our present Christian Israel. The 
feet of the wicked shall fail, their steps are on the sand, and in a 
tempest they will remove. 



HOPE IN MOURNING. 



55 



Be constant in prayer, my brethren. The Lord will try all th« 
earth. Trouble is as rain over us in the clouds of Heaven. The 
righteous and the sinner shall mourn together — the one shall rise 
and the other fall, for the mercies of the Lord are to the just, and 
from the wicked they are already taken away. 

Blessings we know Oh God 's thy due, 

Conviction gives us light; 
Thine own shall tread the journey thro', 

And shun the shades of night. 

Although we for a moment cry, 

Thine ears attend to hear; 
Through love thou brings salvation nigh, 

And casts away our fear. 

Although the highest mountains move, 

Are lost and seen no more ; 
The comforts of thy tender love, 

Will reach the distant shore, 

Altho' these gulfs we're passing through, 

Is unpleasant to the mind, 
Our feet are sure, thy promise true, 

If rest we seek to find. 

Unto the proud thou hast forbid, 

Their feet shall enter there ; 
Thy bosom thou hast deeply hid, 

And covered with despair. 

A mantle covers o'er the skies, 

Of these that seek for gold ; 
And hell is naked to their eyes, 

As all thy servants told. 



January 8th, 1833. 
HOPE IN MOURNING. 

Hope is a companion of the just, and the weary man's friend. 
She is near in a time of need to these that are deserving of her 
embraces and salutation ; she deceives the wicked in their pride, 
and leaves them in distress ; she walks hand in hand with despair, — 
and these two sisters inhabit the whole earth. Hope mourns when 
her designs are not accomplished, but she is never disappointed in 



58 IMPRESSIONS OF THE MIND. 

her own. The soul that entered into marriage with her is in safe 
keeping : his spirit is with the Lord. Now I speak for the spirit of 
these that receive her embraces with confidence ; from these she 
never departs : she absents herself for a moment to give place to 
her sister despair, and then she returns in welcome to her house 
again, or the mind of a man. It is hard to distinguish these spirits 
by figures; but as they cannot be seen more than the sun by the 
blind, we must make use of similitudes to convey their likeness to 
the mind. I doubt not but I am as well acquainted with these 
impressions of mind as but few of my age ; aud I have found it in 
my heart to draw a few lines, such as have not been written con- 
cerning these operations that are so frequent in the world. There 
is a false hope, there is no doubt, and a lying despair, that tells us 
not the truth ; and terribly the mind is troubled with this false visitor, 
and tossed to and fro like the waves in a tempest. What can deliver 
us in such an hour? The truth, and nothing but the truth. Like 
the mariner in the storm, many give way in despair, and conclude 
it is no longer possible to bear up against the floods of discourage- 
ment that come in our way. The Son of God ere he went to the 
grave had a taste of these bitter waters. No follower of God's word 
can escape this troubled stream ; it must be passed through, and is a 
Jordan to the soul. If this cup is avoidable by the sons and daugh- 
ters of men, then writing for their confirmation is vain. Perhaps no 
man of this latter age has wrestled with these spirits as I have, for 
I have been quite alone in my religious progression, and was forbid- 
den the arm of flesh to my assistance, and had to engage the powers 
of hell alone. My mind has been more than the Scriptures to me, 
and the Spirit of the Lord than patriarchs of old. These have been 
my staff amongst men, and through their help I have not been con- 
founded. There is none wiser than they are ; and I commend all 
young travellers in religion to lean upon them, and the aged to forget 
them not, lest they go astray and their last end be not like unto 
them, i. e. the patriarchs of old. It is proper I should give some 
account of my mind ; there has been more written there than in all 
the books in the world for my salvation and improvement. I do not 
say I am wiser than others ; no man can be wiser than this, that is 
to save his soul from the burning vengeance of an angry God : and 
it is through tribulation we obtain the prize. Every soul or spirit 
has its measures of sorrow. Let us not disappoint the w r orld by 
teaching them we can go to heaven by any easy way, or that salva- 
tion is cheap to the mind. It cannot be bought too dear, and is 
everlastingly worth more than the value given. 

Scripture might be applicable in this place, but I will try my mind ; 
and wherein I come short, borrow of these that hath lived before 
me, if necessity requires further explanation to reveal the truth. 



HOPE IN MOURNING. 57 

False hope is the only deceiver and flatterer of mankind, and 
truth is the only hope of dependance and our compass through the 
storm. There is no hell that is eternal but despair. Hell is a 
visitor to us in life ; we partake her bitter drugs and cry for a 
release ; we partake of the joys of heaven, but cannot remain : so 
the mind or the spirit of the man is tossed up and down in life. 
The truth is over all these measures, and can set us free from 
doubting, and consequently release us from despair. We first hope 
in things we see and hear ; flattery tells us the world is sweet and 
the fruit it bears. Is this spirit a liar? — not a wilful liar, for it 
knows no better. It rules in the heart of children and fools, but 
is in perfect subjection in the mind of a man that is a servant of the 
Lord. It repeats lies because it knoweth not the truth, and is ruling 
in the mind of kings, priests, and judges. The truth prophecies to 
this spirit to be still, and let the word of prophecy reign or ascend 
in the mind. We may plead inability ; but a master can put a tenant 
or servant out of his house : so my hands and feet can refrain to obey 
this exalted spirit. When overthrown it becomes despair, and the 
servants of this world fall with their prince and are an unhappy 
people. Hope mourns over them ; she was not accepted, — what 
can she do for them 1 She beholds them lost ; she will not receive 
them, because they will not put. their trust in heavenly things. Her 
visitations are vain ; they will cleave to the world and endeavour to 
rise again. They will hear to flattery a thousand times, and a few 
guineas will receive such captives as these from despair ; and the 
same hope will renew in them that flatters us from the beginning, 
and so we go on trying the world all our days, and the virtue of her 
trees to make us happy, and in this way come short of the salvation 
of the truth till we fall to rise no more, and the cold grave close us 
in her arms to see no release. Now if there is not another way, 
hope in God is vain ; but I can contradict this language, — there is 
another way, and my soul knoweth it. 

A few falls is enough to convince a child he is not a man, and he 
taketh hold on his father's hand to bear him up ; so man receiveth 
the truth, and puts the follies of youth away from his heart, i. e. he 
embraces not the spirit that invites him into the broad space of the 
earth for pleasure. He has been there already. Whom did he see ? 
He was affrighted with the terrors of death and the mournful dread 
of the grave. Are these a happy guest ? are these sweet kindred 
or companions ? If not, come away from them ; receive a word of 
advice and live. The truth reaches beyond the grave, — this is hope 
in heavenly things, — this visitor banishes fear from the heart, and 
leads death the king of terrors captive in a chain ; she holds despair 
in one hand, and the pleasures of life in the other. God is the truth 
and knoweth all things, and deceiveth not his creature man. Man is 



58 IMPRESSIONS OF THE MIND. 

his own deceiver: he makes a master of his own thoughts, despises 
counsel, and runs headlong into error. It is the first time he prays 
in all his life. He may desire the things of this world, but he cannot 
release his feet from bonds, nor his soul from guilt; and he begins 
to acknowledge there is one greater than himself, called the Lord. 
The Lord lends unto him for a moment that strength for which he 
stands in need ; his thoughts renew, — he sins again. The sooner 
we get enough of these draughts, the better it is for us ; the sooner 
we will refrain to sin, and embrace the truth. This is false hope to 
an end ; the reign is done when we forsake her ways : for nothing 
can rule over and govern us, except we serve. We are not the 
meanest of beings that we should be flattered by our eyes and ears 
to run after them : that is, partaking every thing that is pleasant to 
our eyes, and running after that which delights the ear. The soul 
has a companion, direction, and truth within itself. The endowments 
of God grow up in us with the strength of the mind, and we are 
capable of doing for ourselves, were there not a contradiction in our 
own breast inviting us to leave the needful work undone. This is 
the foe of man from the foundation of the world, and he is made 
able through God to conquer (if he will,) and take his dominion 
from him and give to another. This is giving the mind to God over 
and above all other objects in life. I have known my will to resign 
and become captive and yet live, and is loosed now and then for a 
little season, but sin not ; for God has given my will space and time 
to act in, but resign to the will of God to give up my tongue, my 
hands and feet. This is the man in subjection ; and now my will 
can resign without stripes, and is measurably in the kingdom of 
heaven, or Eden, from whence it came. 

Now I sing my songs with pleasure, 

Not a limb is left behind, 
Every spirit has their measure, 

All my heart's to peace inclin'd. 

Now I cease my ill disputing, 

Now I know the worm must die ; 
Truth is all my ways refuting, 

Humble sinners captive lie. 

Oh my God that did forsake me ! 

How thou left my soul to mourn ; 
She wept and slept, but thou did wake me, 

Welcome Lord was thy return. 

Life and truth from darkness risen, 
Lights O God the darkest sky; 



DESPAIR IN DISTRESS. 59 

'Tis thou that doth release from prison, 
'Tis thou ascends the soul so high. 

Hope, most fair and beauteous creature, 

Sought me when I would embrace, 
Descending from a wise Creator, 

Met me with a smiling face. 

She bid me place my thoughts on heaven, 

Oh then her bosom she made bare, 
She said my sins were all forgiven, 

And bid my spirit enter there. 



DESPAIR IN DISTRESS. 

The changes of the mind are applicable to us all ; and I think no 
*oul can be quite a stranger to these things I am writing. Hope in 
•God is an infallible trust ; but hope subsists on the deeds of life. If 
we hope in God, and still continue in our sins, our hope is false, and 
will disappoint us in our trust. We must be subject to the Lord ; he 
hath not made us the master, and himself the subject. We must, 
serve, and our rewards are sure. He has offered enough for all the 
world to serve him : why do we delay ? because a fool is our master, 
and we are captives in his hand. 

Hope in this world doth not continue always ; at farthest, it departs 
at the appearance of death, and all her flattering means give way. 
Death is a strong prison in the hands of the Lord : who can break 
his bars and see release ? None, till the door is opened, can be 
relieved from his chains. This is a change in life that brings all 
things to the test ; in truth, it is the scale that weighs the man. We 
are often terrified with the shadow. He taketh away our sons and 
daughters, removes our wives and children, obscures the field with a 
cloud, and casts a veil over all our works, leaves the widow to mourn 
in the solitary place, and anoints the eyes of the fatherless with tears 
to weep for friends. Why is he at all in the earth ? His terrors are 
the wages of our sins, and a restoration casts them away. Hope 
bears up the mind of these that serve the Lord, but despair casts the 
soul into hell, and is not satisfied ; her arms are extended for more, 
and her bosom is bare to receive them. 

The bounds of hell are measured by the space of the earth ; as 
far as sin is extended, her hidden flame is spread below. The sinner 
is never safe ; his mind is subject to trouble, and as the mariner in 
the storm, he knoweth not what will be the event. His thoughts are 
as the billows of the sea : he knoweth not how soon his hope will 



60 IMPRESSIONS OF THE MIND. 

sink, and all his thoughts descend downwards to the gates of hell. 
This is an unhappy soul. I write for those that dwell in the body, 
but not for those that have gone out of it. What I have known in 
spirit is in the person, and not out of it, — and farther I cannot tell. 
These things are not required of me that are not given. I write to 
manife&t the changes of the mind. If hope bears me up through 
death and the terrors of hell, I expect to receive no more in the 
body : for this is a perfect comfort to the mind. The wicked are 
far short of this constant pleasure which the penitent enjoys; but it 
lies at every man's gates, — why will he not receive it? why will he 
not take the stranger in ? He is possessed of a doubtful, lying fear, 
that if he would receive the word of God he could no more enjoy 
wine or wealth, — he must begin to give to the poor, and feel the 
necessities of the naked, and part his fine mantles to clothe them. 
All these things are done for a reward. Oh foolish man ! is not the 
employer the Lord able to pay for all this, and restore thee more in 
a day of Judgment than thou hast to give ? We are afraid to trust, 
saith fear, the second time ; we will labour for the harvest of the 
field, and make our winter's stock secure ; we will leave salvation 
at the gates, — we will call him in when we are old and near to die. 
The Lord sendeth in death to bring such a servant out to him ; he 
leaves his wife comfortless, and his offspring to mourn. He has not 
fed them with bread from heaven. It matters not how soon they 
have another shepherd, — they can scarcely have a worse. So we 
are parted in the bonds of death, and cannot meet again. Doth not 
despair become the heir of his habitation, and distress fill all his 
house ? What profit has he in all his labour? He has lost his own 
soul, or the peace of it, and the earth and all her joys comfort not ; 
therefore, death is stronger than the pleasures of life, and taketh 
them away, — taketh the soul a prisoner down to the gates of hell, 
and hell awaits to take him in. This is everlasting despair. This 
we may know in the person when the shadow of death passeth over 
us, and we behold ourselves with the dead, our wives with widows, 
and our children with orphans ; our house without a parent, brother 
without sister, and sister without brother. So death divides the 
kindred of this world ; but there is a place of embracing, of being 
assembled into one : this is beyond the gates of hell, or terrors of 
the grave. It is beyond the Jordan of our personal afflictions, where 
every brother gives evidence to the sister that he has passed from 
the bonds of temptation and sin to live with God. Peace is written 
on his heart. He bought the hand-writing by repentance. When 
he poured out his heart before the Lord, as blood runneth from the 
veins, he acknowledged his guilt, and offered his heart to God a 
sacrifice for sin. God accepted the gift as his own ; he gave it to 
man, and it is in his power to give to God again. This is leaving 



DESPAIR IN DISTRESS. 61 

despair in distress and the heart set free from the prison gate. He 
bid peace welcome to his soul. He wishes to try the world no more ; 
she hath deceived many. Why should we disbelieve the evidences 
that God has given us? Who has seen the wicked happy, or of 
continuing joys? 

We proceed farther to relate something in imitation of the truth. 
Death is stronger than the joys of life or the stolen pleasures of 
Eden ; but the truth binds death with a chain, conquers all his 
terrors, and leaves them captives at the prison gate. Oh that I 
could persuade my friends to serve the truth, and distrust flattering- 
lies. I know what I have written, and I am here with you. I have 
written for the Lord and for his purposes, and surely these are his 
gifts to men that are herein written. He administers all in a needful 
time ; and we might know much by these changes of the mind if we 
would embrace them. 

I am not cut off from one pleasure in life, and yet serve the Lord. 
Sin is no pleasure to the righteous. Him that forbears to sin sepa^ 
rates himself from distress, and enters a garden of joys, where all 
that God has created is lawful for him ; and he partakes without sin, 
and doth not offend the Lord. The Lord rejoices in our pleasures. 
The comforts of the righteous — they are for us — and it is his plea- 
sure to give, if we choose to receive them. We must embrace them 
through his law, written in the mind, — We must not steal them, lest 
we boast of self-sufficiency. Therefore he hath prepared despair to 
take them away, and to make the honeycomb bitter to the lips of the 
robber that steals. We must know God to be a giver, and man the 
receiver with a thankful heart. Then at what a low price do we 
receive the joys of life ? It is then indeed we know our sacrifice, 
whatever it is to be, well sold. 

Oh could I see that happy place, 

Could I from hell arise, 
I'd meet the Lord with shame of face, 

Nor hide my sacrifice. 

I 'd stand upright my guilt to own 

With all my mantle — shame ; 
I'd not forbear to weep alone, 

I 'd not from prayer refrain. 

At yonder space the distant hill, 

Is naked to mine eyes, 
Behold! I. see my saviour's will, 

Spread over all the skies. 

Oh Father make my mind like these, 
Where all thy works adore, 



62 IMPRESSIONS OF THE MINB. 

The Sun, the Moon, the Stars agree, 
Nor change forever more. 

Peace thou commands in every part, 
Where thy bless'd hands were spread ; 

Write down thy name amidst my heart, 
And raise me from the dead. 

Command my feeble soul to rise, 

And give her wings to fly, 
Alone, alone to thee she cries, 

And thou shalt not deny. 

Give me a mantle for my breast, 

'Twill cover all my shame, 
Receive me to eternal rest, 

Never to sin again. 

I have written the truth ; my mind is covered up as the maiden 
conceals her bosom, and my hand is at rest. My mind rests as 
still waters before the Lord ; my mind is not prepared for stripes 
but for the joys of heaven. A moment's rest on earth is a blessing 
to the soul. Was it not for the courses of life, I might imagine my 
days might be long, and my years not a few. There is no terror in 
the grave to them that repent of their sins, and our stay is but waiting 
for the greater salvation. This body is but a load to them that want 
to go hence, and is wearisome to the righteous. I am not righteous 
according to the measure of the world, but I am nearly equal with 
mine own, and my soul is at peace with all men, and comforted with 
God ; his blessings are as the drops of dew upon the rose, so is rest 
to the weary spirit. Shorten or lengthen Oh God but at thy pleasure 
— righteousness with me is to be resigned. Remember Israel thy 
son for whom I mourn ; comfort him and I will be satisfied here 
below. I covet not gold, nor long to live but that these that mourn 
be comforted, and him that is lowest in the valley, be set on the 
highest hill. 

Let Zion oppear with her guest — let peace arise. Time is far 
spent and Israel is not redeemed — thy chosen one and Jacob thy 
people — thou will call Israel in Jacob ; and in Abraham shall thy 
seed rejoice. The hills wait for their coming, the Sun will not set 
till Israel is at rest ; thou wilt turn the light of this world back on the 
dial, 'till Israel reach his fold, and thou art at rest with him. Israel 
shall come forth from thy bosom, and inhabit the earth, where they 
have been captives. Shall thy songs be sung, for thou art truly his 
great reward, his harp shall not cease to praise, nor his bow be 
unstrung 'till his foes are captive, and the banners of wiskom rule 
over them ; then all the earth shall see the Lord and Israel's nam* 
forevermore. 



[ 63 ] 

February 2nd, 1833. 
THE LIFE OF A REDEEMER IN THE MIND. 

God possesses the hearts of those that love him ; if he hath 
redeemed us from vain and transitory enjoyments he possesses the 
whole mind, and this is altogether the pillars of the man, and the 
principles of action. The mind is a combination of our numerous 
thoughts. It is these that compose the mind ; and there is one 
Judge over us to comfort or confound all the imaginations of the 
heart. We are not to believe that God teaches those that will not 
receive, or that he poureth out his judgments on the heart of a stone : 
he chastizes where there is feeling, and where there is life, and uses 
the rod where it will touch the heart. He feeds where they are 
hungry, and conceals the bread of life from the exalted of the age. 
He waters where they are thirsty, and leads where they have no way 
— 'he embraces those with love who turn from their sins, but leaves 
fools to enjoy the imagination of their own thoughts. Our thoughts 
are in as much want of a God to govern them, as the beast is in 
want of a master, without, without which, he is good for nothing — 
the hardest stone can be broken — and rocks did rend and the earth 
trembled when the Son of God gave up the ghost — an alarming 
circumstance. I receive these figures as a word of prephecy of 
what was to follow our Redeemer's groans. His end shall be multi- 
plied unto all flesh — the distant hills shall know his name, and 
tremble ; the hardest heart shall fear the Lord. When the heart 
fears and trembles the whole man is in danger; the frame of nature 
shakes when the pillars tremble, and human invention will return to 
the ground, and become as dust in a creature's hand, the judgments 
of the Lord are in the earth. I would if possible teach the human 
family 'till they know these things ; but my desires are beyond 
bounds, and limited by a wise Creator that governs all his work. 
He hath reserved that in his own power that none can do, and will 
reveal himself glorious to the children of men. My heart fears the 
Lord because I know that he is terrible in judgment, and that his 
convicting word doth reach the mind. God forms his image in the 
soul of those that love the Lord, and giveth unto him the whole heart; 
and the man becomes as passive clay, and the mind as still waters 
before the Lord. He has destroyed the old world in such a mind, 
as sure as the flood overspread the hills. He hath consumed the 
exalted mountains with fire, he hath smitten the earth with a curse, 
(this is a Redeemer's baptism;) the life of God in the soul doeth 
this— puts every exalted thought under his feet, as the brute in 
chains, they are imprisoned captives of the Lord. He Vinds and 



64 IMPRESSIONS OF THE MIND. 

releases according to his own good will, and resistance fleeth as a 
shadow before the wind; the man hath nothing to glory in ; he 
knoweth that another mightier than himself doeth the work : and 
this is a most solemn and true information why every humble mind 
is clothed with humility, and exaltation disappears as spots or stains 
from the garment well washed in a Redeemer's blood — blood is but 
a figure that implies life — it is impossible to wash a spirit in blood, 
but it is not impossible for a spirit to reform and change the mind. 
There are numerous contests up and down in life about figures and 
types; but where the word of God has made an impression on the 
mind, we read plainly; and the chastizing hand of God blots out 
disputes, erases fears and doubts from the mind, and refills the space 
with faith, and the bosom bursts with love to a Redeemer. These 
never rest without declaring the works of God. In their deeds, 
some are strictly honest, some abundantly charitable, and others run 
to redeem through the great abilities that God has given. I have 
sat me down to count the numerous objects that are now before 
redeemers, and I declare before God that temptations are set in their 
way ; they run for a false prize and lose the true riches intended of 
God. 

The more we enjoy of this world, the less of the kingdom of 
heaven ; for which sense I have returned hearty thanks to my Re- 
deemer, that he hath made me a child of trouble, and the joys of 
men bitter to my soul. We will not drink much gall because we 
love it not, neither do I the common pleasures of men. God keep me 
so. For instance, the soul has bounds, there are ten thousand things 
that our thoughts cannot reach, this is wisdom without the soul, 
why do we not receive it, it is in the bosom of God to give, and wis- 
dom and works are the offspring of his own heart. If a gallon 
measure is full it will contain no more, because it hath its bounds ; if 
our souls are filled up with folly, and longing desires for a few flatter- 
ing enjoyments of life, they will hold no more ; wisdom remains outside 
of us, and she will bring forth by another that will receive her tiding3, 
and leave us as a stock or stone by the way side ; like a man waiting 
for the judgments of God to be overthrown by his power in a future 
day, there he stands, showing to the world her engravings and titles, 
and exhibiting to travellers what the world has engraven upon his 
heart. One says a thousand pounds a year of this world's goods, and 
the things of time ; we pass a little farther aid read twice the sum 
on another ; another tells us great education, he has been to school 
with men, and he is worthy of a title ; and the next corner we see 
Bishop written in the forehead of a man, with his arm leaning on the 
crown of England, or some other nation— the king's head is lower 
than his, he teaches at court, and reveals the will of God on the 
Sabbath, and I believe him to be as far from being a redeemer as a 



THE LIEE OF A REDEEMER IN THE MIND. 65 

bullock is from being cheese ; but we must look what follows, we 
have not yet come to the end of waywarks: Behold a numerous 
parcel of boys are putting on priests garments, their eyes are fixed on 
the bishop as they draw on their mantles, he is fat with the good 
things of life ; kings and nations serve him, gold itself ornaments 
his character, his work is easy and his burden light, and who may 
not follow him? The priest has become the honourable man, that 
was once abused, whose heart was well acquainted with the smarting 
scourges of sin. I have now seen enough to fill my heart with unbe- 
lief, that God hath ever sent worldly minded men to redeem his 
children from these disappointing enjoyments here below. Keep 
my heart Oh God from these things, and forbid my spirit to trust in 
them. I saw a man that had been to church ; he returned hungry and 
full of sorrow, the will of God was not revealed unto him, he leaned 
upon his staff and said our priests are poor, they are without bread 
from heaven, our flocks are going astray, and there is none to save, 
he shed a tear and departed from me. I wept before the Lord and 
was silent, for I am too young in spirit to hail him with the truth, I 
sought the bosom of the Lord, and was comforted, he told me that 
suns should rise from still waters or from a deep mind — I renewed 
my hope in God my saviour, he multiplied my strength, increased 
my faith and I uttered a few sentences in the name of the Lord ; the 
hearer rejoiced, the city was glad, the heart ran over, the cup was 
full, and the people at peace ; these are shadows of things to come, 
for I fear not to speak in the name of the Lord, for his words are truth. 
We now come to the point in hand, and give a full explanation 
of the life of God in the soul or a redeemer in the mind. God 
disquiets the still waters, he breathes upon the mind, he sets our 
thoughts in motion as the billows of the sea, and at his command 
alone are they still. My spaces of rest are exceeding short, but as 
day and night succeed each other, so are the sorrows of m3 r soul, 
for I am a troubled man. The vineyard is great committed to my 
trust, the labourers are few, and I behold myself alone before the 
Lord. I have no staff but his name, and I am afraid that humanity 
will betray me, and that I shall be forsaken of the Lord, and fall to 
lise no more. The fear of this event clothes me as a mantle, and I 
wear it all the days of my life ; this world hath given me this. I 
see so many worms worrying in the earth, trying to make 
holes in the ground like the miner for gold, I fear that I shall fall into 
one of these pits also, and become a servant of pleasure, and hated 
of God. But I know other things than these, and my heart is 
clothed with a covering that I never have shown to the world, nor 
ever will, except it is known in deeds. I have confidence that God 
will keep me, as I deny temptations, for this is his written word and 
his {Spirit is the truth of the things written. 

E 



66 IMPRESSIONS Of THE MOU. 

I now come to the office of the priest, and compare his heart with 
mine, and put the two in the balance together, and our deeds shall 
balance for us, and him that can testify the most plain truths of a 
redeemer will find the greatest acceptance in the world, and the most 
numerous favours of God. A redeemer in the mind, is as a strong 
man that removes hills and mountains and casts them into the sea. 
He maketh the path of his servants plain, their light clear, their 
morning without clouds, and embraces them with the light of the 
sun. The spirit of truth brings the Son of God to remembrance ; 
Moses, Aaron, and the holy prophets, David and the saints ; and 
these are such evidences for the believer, though he were alone in 
this age, that he standeth upright before God ; he hath chosen these 
for his staff, that hath received great favours. What is a title 
without substance or a mind without works? All the godly patriarchs 
of old evince by the deeds of life that the word of God was with 
them, writing in the heart these righteous deeds that came to light. 
These were men of sorrow, sons of love, and vessels of great joy, 
for they contained the pleasures of the Lord. The Lord enlarged 
the mind, as the infant groweth up from small to great, and made 
the minds of these men the habitations of wisdom, and these enjoyed 
her embraces in the secret place, when the waters were still before 
the Lord, then did they drink the sentence of " well done." Lord, 
make my heart like these, let wisdom be my wealth, and my joys 
the income of life ; and thy smiles will fill my whole heart. Thy 
conviction maketh way in the heart for a superior guest in life- — 
destroys the title of Kings and Bishops — consumes the exalted station, 
and sinks gold to the depths of the sea, where it can be seen nor 
known no more by all the servants of God. As the furnace purifieth 
from dross, so thy word doth cleanse the vessel from temptation, 
stains the pride and glories of life, and sets the wandering and 
deluded captive free. Thou assumest the mind to thyself O God, as 
thine house or tabernacle here below ; those doth not despise the 
heart of man — thou hast made it for thine own dwelling, this is where 
thou showest thyself to man, it is all thine, all must bow before thee, 
all must confess thine is the inheritance, and must give way, all 
must remove at thy command, and turn to earth again ; we receive 
them from the earth and to thence they must return. Tbey enter 
in by the gates of temptation, and false representations, and unto 
dust they must return ; they appear false to evidence that God is true, 
and that the truths of his word are forever. 

Him that God loveth hath a living soul, fear hath perfect place 
therein, and affects the mind against temptations. Love is her sister 
and embraces the world of men with friendship, and courts the world 
as a maiden, to win salvation to sinners, and this is the priest's prize, 
to win souls from eternal death by the word of his lips, expounding 
the law the Lord hath written upon his heart. 



THE SALVATION OF THE WORLD. 67' 

Oh Lord how lonesome and how few, 

Are these that seek thy name; 
They sorrow, sigh, and travel too, 

The wandering soul to gain. 

They pray, to win them to thy love, 

Their heart is all sincere ; 
These lead the soul to heaven above, 

These see the pathway clear. 

These knew a dear Redeemer's prayer, 

And God that doth redeem ; 
Their days doth with thy sons compare, 

In the same path they 're seen. 

Their words are lamps of endless light, 

They place their feet by day ; 
They have both Heaven and hell in sight, 

And shun the dangerous way. 

Gold is to them as harlot's bait, 

That takes the stranger in ; 
They 'r loudly crying at the gate, 

To save the world from sin. 



February 3rd, 1833. 
THE SALVATION OF THE WORLD. 

God destroys to build again — he maketh us sorrowful and glad, 
these are the changes of his hand upon the hidden mind. We can 
mourn in secret, and rejoice alone ; it is not all lost that is not seen, 
nor all forgotten that we have not revealed to our friends ; we may 
hear one day and speak another, receive at night and shew forth in 
the the morning. I continue to write because the spring hath not 
gone dry, or because the Spirit of revelation ceaseth not to reveal ; 
but when I have written all I shall write, it is no more than the heart 
contains, and the numerous figures the Lord hath given, of which I 
know the substance, and can explain to the critic the substance of 
which these lines contain. 

I was never a mocker or despiser of my father whose feet was 
placed in the happy station, Eden, and slid out of it ; neither do I 
believe that his enjoyments or reward ever inspired me to sin. For 
e 2 



66 IMPRESSIONS OF THE MIKI>. 

instance, though a man should never read the bible or history of his 
life, he will find it in his mind to do as he did, partake of pleasures 
contrary to the will of the Lord. 

There is scarcely a being created, man or beast, but God has 
endowed with a sense (if it may be so called) that he has a superior, 
and will flee from him. Adam fled from the presence of the Lord, 
he was not ready to come to judgment. It is the first time that we 
read that he feared the Lord. He had lost his friend, broken the 
ties of society, and strove to hide himself alone, for him and his were 
one flesh and blood, one was made of the other, and both were limbs 
of one body, whom I suppose to have been the clothing of the Lord. 
The sinner begins to embrace misery after transgression. I should 
not have taken up the works of creation to assist the revelation of 
my thoughts save fortius reason, that through these means 1 could 
make my heart more plain to the world. There is no person content 
in childhood, nor youthful days ; the very infant will cry for help 
like a repenting sinner. Is it not right in the sight of Heaven that 
the soul should not remain in this crying and craving disposition? As 
the mother feeds the child, God grants to men their request; to prove 
that their desires are incorrect, he makes that which is sweet, as 
honey to the lips, bitter to the soul. It was in his power to keep 
Adam from the forbidden tree ; but he had no experience to build 
his house upon, the fear of the Lord was not about him, no more 
than the sucking babe fears the mother. He made himsolf equal 
with God, and set to work to execute his own designs, and make 
himself happy by the deeds of his hands. If he had succeeded, 
reason teaches us there would have been no God, but man, nor 
angels but our thoughts to direct us in life. But God covered him 
with a mantle shewing forth his capacity — with the low mantle of 
the skins of beasts, teaching us thereby that he put in practice the 
disposition of a beast. Whose abilities are capable of their own 
direction, save these that are servants unto men ? He placed him faF 
ofT, he sought him when he was lost, he convicted the works of his 
hand, by so doing he fits and prepares our heart to receive the 
wisdom of God. Think ye that Adam rejoiced in the old woman's 
fruit, which she said was so good untried ? Here we see the whole 
follies of youth in one man, and one woman. And I believe that 
Moses the writer knew this way in his own soul, as I believe the 
brute knoweth the stall or place of watering. What is food to these 
that are not hungry ? It is tasteless to their lips. What is water to 
them that never thirst? Not worthy of notice. What is the word 
of God to them that are full of the joys of life ? 

Adam was in trouble before God spake with him ; as he had invented 
one action, he thought he could find a cover ; what he had done did 
not fit the heart. The hand-writing of God was there, and he 



THE SALVATION OF THE WORLD. 69 

observed a broken law and a disconsolate mind ; there is no hiding 
from the presence of the Lord. He will not accept of our excuses 
or covering — he provides a cover that fits the mind, and generally 
speaking, men appear no great things in the spirit of the Lord. I 
do not believe if Adam had found one of our Bishops among the 
trees, that he would have been tailor enough to have clothed him to 
please the Lord. So, it is God that covers us with blessing or 
cursing, as he will. He is well acquainted with man in all his 
thoughts, there is nothing secret or hidden from his eyes — he could 
as well have spoken to Adam the moment he received the fruit as 
afterwards, he could save the world from sin without sorrow, but it is 
not his will and pleasure so to do. He speaketh to us in trouble, he 
sheweth us how we come there, and that it is by breaking some 
good law or advice previously given to save the soul from sin. For 
instance, no mother can keep the infant free from transgressing 
counsel or the laws of the Lord. She cannot retain the comforts of 
her breast to her sucking babe, the little infant will rise from it, and 
through their own deeds bring that unwelcome visitor, trouble, to 
their own young and tender minds God follows them because of 
love, and tells them how it came. They have a mind in them to 
search after hidden things or forbidden trees ; he tells them his word 
and will is greater than the whole heart, and must be obeyed. Now 
if it were in our power, we would save our darlings from such bitter 
cups ; but there is no other way provided to introduce fear into a 
hard heart, but by and through the gates of sorrow, and then it 
reaches effectually and doeth more than the parent can do, or angels 
from Heaven. Therefore sorrow, grief, woe, disappointment, groans 
and tears are all servants of the Lord, sent to redsem man from 
trusting in invention, and inviting him to put confidence in the will 
of God his creator, adviser and law. Therefore, it is the weary only 
that are prepared for rest ; those that are tired of invention and 
making coverings, and choosing fruit, that will come forth openly, 
naked as they were born, and own their sins before the Lord, and 
uncover their shame to the whole earth ; God receiveth such as 
children of his love. He taketh oft the skin of the beast, and 
putteth the robe upon him as becometh the man, the best in the 
whole world, for he is the most noble ereature of all his works, he 
leadeth and guideth him by his words — he maketh his heart as the 
angels in Heaven. He maketh his body a perfect garment for the 
soul, and the deeds of the man sheweth forth the works of God in the 
mind, and through man he reveals his will to the whole earth. This 
mind craves no higher station — he can teach men, he hath bread in 
store to give from the hands of the Lord. Gold becomes of none 
effect, the will of God becomes to him as the mother's breast and 
more, for his soul in the bosom of the Lord knoweth no want. 
c3 



70 IMPRESSIONS OF THE MIS©* 

Oh happy man from pleasures free, 
That hills and mountains doth afford, 

Kindred and brothers unto me, 

Whom God in mercy hath restored. 

His soul has put new mantles on, 
Such as the Prophets knew before, 

Like unto these that's dead and gone, 
But such as never hath been wore. 

Each one 's a mantle of his own, 
Such as the Lord in mercy saw, 

On whom the sun hath never shone, 

His hands doth clothe them with his law. 

He makes their path a stream of blood, 
The simple cannot err therein ; 

And he 's an ornament to God, 

That 's weary and forsakes his sin. 

The hills and mountains give him rest, 
The river overruns with joys ; 

The mountain and the valley 's blest, 
Where neither time nor age destroys. 



February 4th, 1833. 

THE WAY TO HEAVEN, OR THE PATHS OF PEACE. 

It is not the wise and prudent man that finds the hidden way, the 
learned nor the great ; it is not the general, priest, or king, but the 
plain, simple, true, and upright man : his deeds hath acceptance with 
the Lord, and heaven is his great reward. Peace doth not consist 
in wealth or honour, country or kingdom ; but in the will of the Lord 
revealed to man. We have now the pillars laid, and will build 
upward according to wisdom given. God hath a will for us to 
perform on earth. 

The will of the Lord is the law of men. As for men inventing 
peace through the imagination of the mind, it is impossible ; God 
hath made it so for the purpose of his own glory. The waters of 
the most distant and remote spring can find the bosom of the sea. 
Why cannot man find the city of God, if God hath so formed the 
water course, and the liquid stream can trace his will to the fountain 
of the great deep ? Is the mind weaker than water ? Cannot the 
mind know the appointments of the Lord ? The water hath but one 



THE WAY TO HEAVEN, OR THE PATHS OF PEACE. 71 

way and cannot miss the course, but the mind of man hath two ways : 
the one is temptation, and the other is to refrain. All wise men 
have chosen the latter, but fools embrace the first invitation. The 
earth affords pleasure of which we are unworthy till we work right- 
eousness. From hence the pleasures of the life are our great 
reward. We may in justice say the saints and prophets have been 
unhappy men. The paths of experience are ways of tribulation, 
and every anointed son of God partakes of death or the wages of 
sin before he moves his tongue to declare of the city of God. He 
that is troubled and not for his own sins, is buying wisdom for 
others, and receiving bread from heaven to feed the flocks, or teach 
to men below. It is a singular thing to me that priests are ordained 
to preach without experience, and sent out to teach about a kingdom 
they never knew. They might as well say meat was sweet they 
never tasted, and that hell was a place of misery ; their father told 
them so, and they must be sure not to go there. We have Scripture 
proof to confirm experience, that the soul or spirit of the Son of God 
was in hell, but not to remain. Likewise Job, David, Jonah, and I 
believe ten thousand others unknown, these servants knew some- 
thing ; they had been to school, and of such a one as never man 
taught, the great irresistible hand of God. Cast the spirit of these 
men into a consuming flame ; there all resistance is destroyed that 
is against the will of God. There the will of man consumes into 
passiveness, and resists the will of God no more. 

When God has answered his great and victorious purpose in the 
hour of judgment, he abates the flame, and grants the prisoner 
relief. These know the mercies of the Lord ; and as true it is that 
Enoch, Elijah and Christ were translated, so true it is that God 
translates the penitent from the kingdom of hell to the kingdom of 
heaven : otherwise than this, how did these servants see a release 
in spirit? or how was the soul of a Redeemer released from bonds? 
These men knew these things of a certainty, and we must know them 
while in the body ; otherwise men go a teaching men how to take 
doves that never caught one in all their days. To send men out to 
teach the world how to shun the pit who never were in it, is like 
goats teaching children how to sing that never knew a song in their 
lives. 

The learned in letters may do to teach the gentry, that are already 
happy in the things of life, but the poor man, the mourner and the 
blind, the hungry and the thirsty, need an experienced heart to 
teach them, a hand of mercy to lead them, one that hath been at the 
tables of the Lord, one whose feet have been in the mire, and saw a 
release; one who had been thirsty, and drank at the fountain of 
living waters. He knoweth where the spring may be found ; he 
knoweth of the mire and clay ; his heart hath felt the cords. His 



i'Z IMPRESSIONS OF THE MIND. 

spirit hath been with God, and hath received from his own hand an " 
appointment to teach men. His heart is the ways of peace, and his 
words footsteps to the kingdom of God. He wept that was not 
guilty, and mourned without a cause ; his heart in hell made an 
atonement for sin, and his soul had acceptance in the kingdom of 
heaven. 

Here is the school that makes the man the scholar; and him that 
hath not been there, is like one trying to drive a flock of sheep over 
the river where he hath made no bridge. So the worldly-minded 
are trying to redeem the world, driving men into heaven where they 
never have been themselves. Experience should go beforehand, 
and deeds be a light to our eyes. Never was a worldly-minded 
man as redeemer of men ; he that pleads for mercy must be mer- 
ciful, and him that saith repent, must have repented, or his doc- 
trine is on the sand, false foundation and will remove. His doctrine 
may be good, but he is not the heir of it ; sinners are not sent out 
to redeem the world. What is more plain than this? My son, let 
us go to the field and gather in the harvest that we have sown : or 
my daughter go to the fountain and draw to quench our thirst. The 
son can find the field ; the father or parent strewed the seed, and 
he sendeth out the son to reap the increase. The mother saith, 
my daughter go to the fountain and draw, where I have found sweet 
peace and consolation of soul : so simple is the way to the kingdom 
of heaven. No, saith the youth, I have another mind than this ; 
I will go to the ball, the race, or the games ; I will take my part in 
the dance, or spend a night in the jovial throng. He lifts up his 
eyes in the kingdom of hell. Who led him there ? The productions 
of inexperienced men. If he would hear one teaching the world of 
men next day, would he believe in his doctrine? No, he would 
know that his practice contained the sting of death ; he was teaching 
that he never knew ; therefore, publican like, let a man place his 
hand upon his heart, confess his sins, pray for mercy, obtain for- 
giveness, and then teach his fellow men. Will the daughter attend 
to the mother's cries ? No, there is something more delightful, there 
is a flock at a distance just ascending the hills of pleasure. I must 
go with them, eat and drink in the hour of temptation, and make my 
heart glad. Oh silly one, thou art then descending the gulphs of 
thy ruin, thou art then going to draw up the unabated flame from 
hell about thy feet. Here thou art going to sacrifice thy glory to 
this consuming flame. Thy deeds are as fuel for the fire, and 
increase the flame about thee. It cannot be quenched with thy 
mother's tears, nor abated with thy father's groans. Thou hast 
then made the hope of thy father as barren as the desert sands, and 
clothed his heart with despair, and watered the breast of thy mother 
with tears that gave the suck. 



THE WAY TO HEAVEN, OR THE PATHS OF PEACE. 73 

Drink at the fountain of experience, and eat the bread of life 
given thee of God ; and the kingdom of heaven will grow up about 
thee, and thou wilt know no ilk There is not a spring under heaven 
of which the waters thereof hath not a way to the sea. There is 
not a child born but there is a way for him to the city of God. So 
plain is the way to the kingdom of heaven, so sure are our paths 
peace, if we will walk in the appointments of the Lord. I am a 
man of deep experience, almost unbounded in hope, and have an 
interest with God. My children, why will ye not hearken to my 
cries? Receive the bread of life, go to the field, I have strewed 
the seed, the harvest is ripe ; gather in, and your rewards are sure. 
My daughter, go to the fountain of thy mother's experience, draw 
counsel from her breast. This will quench thy thirst. Let her 
words be the footsteps of life, and thy calling and thine appointment 
is sure ; for thou art born to honour these that have lived before 
thee, whose feet have been in the mire, whose soul hath been in the 
pit. Their heart is with God, and their tongue will keep thy path- 
way clear. 

Come children hear a parent sing, 

Most mournful is the song ; 
The joys of life how they take wing, 

And leave us in the wrong. 

What blessings 'tis, oh child, to have 

A parent good and kind, 
That hourly mourns thy soul to save, 

And seeks thy bread to find. 

Whose hands have sought a fountain deep, 

And found the living spring, 
The waters cure the eyes that weep, 

There maidens wash and sing. 

Blest is that man whose harvest grows, 

He tills a fruitful soil, 
He stands upright amidst his foes, 

And fights to save his child. 

He stands amidst a beating storm, 

Undaunted in his face, 
And spreads abroad a tender arm, 

The prisoner to release : 

He makes the captive's griefs his own, 

His soul he doth not spare ; 
He loudly calls the wandering home, 

And doth their burdens bear. 



IMPRESSIONS OF THE MIND. 



THE WAY TO MISERY, OR THE HOURS OF DISTRESS. 

The most wise and prudent man in life can find hours of trouble 
and the paths of misery, but it is the simple one that profits by expe- 
rience, and sells his own for that which he hath bought. Is it not 
silly for a child to run twice into the fire in one day ? so it is exceed- 
ing silly for wise men (so called) to practise these things that priests 
and prophets have forbid. He is the wise man only that fears the 
Lord. We think we are wise when we despise counsel ; but the 
King hath said, it is the path of safety. A man must have a high 
esteem for his own imagination that will despise good doctrine, and 
cast the counsel of aged men behind his back. It is to these the 
truth is not revealed ; and a child is wiser in the sight of God, that 
draws his food from the mother's breast, than these. They draw 
because they need ; but what a fool most needs he most despises, 
because he is a fool : and that is the way with some of the learned 
of our age. They need to go to the school of experience ; but that 
would abase the man, as a mantle that doth not fit the proud and 
exalted mind. It would simplify their manners, make their tongue 
to be comprehended by the unlearned, and clothe them with the 
mantles of the ignorant, and like a day-labourer they would be 
earning bread for their household. I speak particularly of priests 
and of all teaching men. A distressed soul for the bread of life 
doth not hunger to see a priest's gown, nor a set of words difficult 
to explain. But like a lost man enquiring the way, he wants to 
know where is the city of God, — how far off, and how he can obtain 
admittance. The priest should have in store these deeds in his 
remembrance by which he found acceptance with God ; for these to 
him are the bread of life. He should tell him where he is in danger 
of missing the way, and where he (the priest) fell into the pit, and 
only saw release through the mercies of God, the forgiver of sins. 
But true it is, him that knoweth not the way cannot direct another; 
but they can offer to Peter and John, that were preachers or teach- 
ers eighteen hundred years ago, and they can tell them all about 
the kingdom of God, for revelation hath now ceased ; but invention 
is in full splendour, how to obtain the kingdoms of this world ; if so, 
we may as well send the hungry man to the fountain for bread, or 
thirsty man to the baker for water, and the poor man to the almanac 
maker for the Gospel, as to go to the priest that has no experience. 
The fountain could not afford bread, neither doth the baker barter in 
water, nor the almanac maker in the Gospel, nor the inexperienced 
man in the things of God. These are the paths of misery, where a 
man travels and finds no consolation ; and if God doth not visit his 
people, we are forever undone, and reveal to us from day to day the 



THE WAY TO MISERY, OR THE HOURS OF DISTRESS. 75 

way we should walk to obtain the city. What doth it profit a man 
to go to a dry fountain ? if it is possible there is such a place, I 
know a place may be called a well without water, and a cloud with- 
out rain, and a body may be called a man without wisdom, and a man 
may be called a priest without wisdom or experience — a man may 
be called a doctor without medicine, and a man's mind may be called 
a soul without grace ; and the poor man may say, when all these 
visits are performed, as Job did by his friends, miserable comforters 
are ye all, and physicians of no value. Now are not these things 
possible ? and are they not measurably true ? and are they not pro. 
per truths, to keep us from being deceived, and to assist us in open- 
ing our eyes to eternal light? Are not these the paths of misery 
and disappointment, the hours of distress? They are thought to be 
wise and prudent that look up to the learned nobility of the age, 
and imitate them in example. I have a mind to the reverse of this 
practice, and stand in opposition to them and their followers. They 
are a burden to the poor — in taxing, and rating, hard to them that 
mourn, and are not in haste to take our burden away. They are 
not content with wealth, but covet honor, by saying we are the way. 
What presumption this will do to teach the blind ; but them that hath 
seen the Son of God and the prophets, even at a distance, (which is 
to say through history,) know better things than these, and God hath 
not committed it to their trust to deceive the world. I will take great 
pains to lay a block of stumbling in the way of the exalted . I will toil 
day and night for it, with faith, that I will lay that stone in their way, 
through the assistance of God, that kings nor priests cannot remove. 

The administration of the nobility are the miseries of life ; they 
first tell us they are wise, and we must pay them dearly for their 
wisdom. The end is they must be rich, let who will be poor. 
We bear the censuring load of ignorance on our shoulders, which 
we cannot remove without gold, which we cannot get; and here the 
counsel closes, they do not provide a way for us to be wise as them, 
but at great expense. Invention continues to impose, we cannot 
obtain the fee, and must therefore lose the prize. We may keep 
cattle and feed swine, we may attend the field, through sun and 
storm, while their cover and canopy is known by the name of office, 
and priests have an office now, and have bread to sell, — like bakers' 
old loaves that Peter and John gave to the world for nothing. 

Bishops and priests are now gathering up the crumbs, and selling 
them to the world. Their basket is lean, their hearers are not satis- 
fied. God hath looked from heaven on the simple part of the world. 
He hath taken my spirit to the school of distress indeed, for I gave 
it him. I know of being bound, and of being released. I know 
that iron law of conviction, and that justifying hour of consolation 
and my heart is not quite a fool to these things. 



76 IMPRESSIONS OF THE MIND. 

I do not know grammar, and upwards to the dead languages ; but 
I know of being released from the hours of sorrow, and whose hands 
hath done this ; and I know it to be the Lord. I never had a bishop 
to wash my feet, nor anoint my head with oil, and yet I can speak of 
the things of God and not be confounded ; and this is my great reward 
for suffering that which nature cannot endure. 

The spirit of the Lord was with me in the furnace ; the flame con- 
sumed not my soul, but my foolish pride and exaltation, and these I 
would sacrifice to the Lord indeed, to see release. I have sealed 
my covenant with mine own signet ; I have signed with a willing 
mind — it is the service of my life to serve the Lord, if he will keep 
me, and give me food and raiment, I am for ever his ; I have pro- 
vided for mine own house and little ones, as you see on the tables of 
the Lord this day, or hear in your ears ; I have been a safe adviser 
to the young, and the counsels of aged men — the Lord hath done this 
through me ; I have been a voice in the ears of them that hath heard, 
and a stumbling block or stone in the way of the exalted ; I have 
put the judge (or elder in the church) to silence, and have set the 
little captives free ; and through the mercy of God they cannot blot 
out the hand writing, because it is written of the Lord. 

Some pleasant banks and morning suns 

Afford an hour of rest, 
And peace around our little ones; 

1 see the flocks are blest. 

No dread nor fear is in their way, 

The block and stones remove ; 
The darkness of a former day 

Still vanishes with love. 

God of our peace is still more near, 

He moves these blocks and stones ; 
Goliahs too doth disappear, 

And flees our little ones. 

It 's rare for giants to defy, 

As once in days of old ; 
They sheath the sword and pass us by, 

They 're weary with their gold. 

February 5th, 1833. 

When I see wonders in the skies, 

And sorrow in the earth below, 
I'm certain suns from death will rise, 

And tell us things we do not know. 



WHAT IS LIFE? 77 

There is a dreadful storm at hand, 

Before the morning sun shall rise ; 
Jehovah's wrath will scourge the land, 

And make a remnant poor and wise. 

He'll place the humble on a throne, 

A humble heart the scale shall hold ; 
He'll build a kingdom of his own, 

On pillars that were laid of old. 

Israel of old shall ever stand, 

The Lord hath mark'd them for his own ; 
Their deeds shall ornament the land, 

Their prince be never overthrown. 

Bright are the suns of Israel's days, 

The happy morning hastes to come ; 
David shall tune his harp to praise — 

Jehovah's will shall all be done. 



February 19th, 1833. 

WHAT IS LIFE? 

The answer is as intelligence from a far country. If we can 
come at the truth in reply to the question, life is near us, and yet al 
a distance ; it is unmeasured and unknown to those who spend their 
time in idleness, and lose the purpose of their creation. Life is 
given to be known, but God is the interpreter ; to him we must 
apply for the revelation of the soul, otherwise than this a man never 
cometh to the sense of his own mind. Our bodies of clay are but a 
figure of life ; by life they move and have their being. The person 
is but a waymark to the mind, and the mind as a distant city or far 
country to those who do not seek to find the prize, or travel indus- 
triously to come to a sense of the man. The counsels of age and 
experience improve the mind for a time. A man's mind is as a 
wilderness; he knoweth not what it will produce until it is cultivated 
and improved. For a time God leaves the mind in the care of 
parents or guardians, but in time he assumes the whole controul 
over it, to bless or curse, as our deeds may be. The mind is life 
without dispute, because in the mind there is feeling, and feelings are 
effectual to life. The dead cannot feel, and is, therefore, a capacity, 
if we may so say, to the reverse of life, and hath no connection 
with the feeling sense of the mind. I am writing of the life of the 
man, and not of every living thing that moves by animation from the 



78 IMPRESSIONS OF THE MIND. 

hand of God. I conceive God is a spirit, because he cannot be 
seen with the human eye. I wish to build upon mine own reason, 
and not merely believe a thing is so because it is written, but come 
at the real sense of the word, to confirm my understanding in the 
things of God, and know what pertaineth to the man. We cannot 
see God any more than we can see the wind or the utmost bounds 
of the sky. We can see the animated being, but cannot see the 
animation. We can feel changes in the mind : it is subject to death 
as the plant is to the frost, or the tender grass to the mower, that 
falls before him. We cannot see death nor disease, but we plainly 
feel these operations on the mind, because it is life and capable of 
feeling. It is the mind that holds a communication with spirits, and 
commits to the man intelligence from God. The body is capable 
of feeling its own enemies ; but the body can die and the soul be 
left alive, otherwise there is not a spirit in heaven that ever existed 
in man. Soul and body is a strange composition, butMittle known, 
and carelessly practised. We compare with other animated beings 
without improvement ; but through the love of parents, and the un- 
merited favors of God, we rise above every other part of the creation. 
The mind or spirit of the man never was created, but is spirit, and 
was and is with God always, either in the far distant and unmea- 
sured regions of his judgments, or compassed about by the bounds 
of his favours in which there is no wrong. Let our joys be ever 
so great, they are the pleasures of the Lord given unto man, without 
which he can enjoy nothing without a curse or the vengeance of a 
Being whom we cannot comprehend. It is life that receives plea- 
sure. The dead are unknown to it : comfort cannot cheer the dead 
more than water can rejoice the heart of a stone. Death is a terror 
to all our temporal enjoyments, and this is the curse decreed of God 
to them that steal. 

In the law of the Lord are the pleasures of life. If we plant in 
the wildnerness it will produce nothing ; so are these that hope for 
joys in an unimproved mind ; they reap disappointment and cursing 
for their service ; the end is bitter, and their hope fainteth away. 
These turns affect the mind, because the mind is the spirit of life — 
proceedeth out from a living fountain, and cannot die. The mind 
dieth not, but the action ; the consequence affects the heart, and 
leaves the mind an intelligent being of the miseries received through 
the actions of life. 

The body without the mind is clay, ready to dissolve into the 
formless mould from whence it rose. Life inspires all our actions. 
The body can feel nothing, but it touches the mind, therefore it is 
the man within that is the life of the body, and exists in all our 
limbs. There are many going up and down in the earth, telling 
about sin and righteousness, that knoweth not the man, but are like 



What is life? 79 

post-boys or news-carriers, communicating that which Editors or 
others have given unto them. The heart or mind of these men may 
remain as a wilderness all their days, and then remain in the priest's 
office wearing titles or garments that never knew the mind of a man. 
I have found it in my heart to believe that man may attain to a 
more certain knowledge of himself than priests and prelates now 
reveal; for instance, one part of the man is a light to the other, 
and one part a servant to the other. 

Doth not the servant know the mind of his master when his will is 
revealed unto him? Verily, he saith unto him, go and do this, 
and whatsoever is right I will give thee at thy return. Now query, 
if the servant could ever enjoyed the reward if he had left his mas- 
ter's will undone or the deeds of life unfinished ? So we suffer for 
not doing the revealed will of God, and the mind is capable of seeing 
a Providence frown, or feel the convicting scourge laid on the heart 
for disobedience ; the body suffers also, because life is in misery ; 
the whole feeling sense of the man is distressed, and there is not one 
animated limb of the person that enjoys the pleasures of life ; she is 
in prison, she is in bonds, — the chains are strong and the powers of 
the Lord greater than can be cheerfully borne. Thus life is destroyed 
through sin, and I will now speak with the priest : Is his heart with 
the sinner when he feels himself exalted with righteousness? Nay, 
he is far from the diseased in soul, — and I have no prospect that he 
will heal him. Priests ought to go to schools where the scholars 
learn the miseries of life, and be taught of God ; they ought to go 
where conviction is master, and the iniquity of this world is visited 
upon them, and then their very life within them could testify of the 
gates of hell, atone for sin, and stand at the portals of heaven, — the 
very gates by which men enter into the joys of life. The priest's 
soul should be to them that hear, but the want of this convicted pil- 
grimage leaves us to be physicians of no value. 

I would that God would improve the priests, and the priests the 
people ; they are selling history to the world, instead of communi- 
cating feelings which would be far better intelligence to the man : 
one generation of people may improve one part of the mind, but the 
world is not yet perfect, there is more to do, one mechanic cannot 
answer all purposes; if all were cultivators, who would be the 
builders ; if all were builders, who would till the field ; if all were 
priests, who would hear ; if the child was wise by birth, where would 
the parent show wisdom ; if there was no temptation, the faculty of 
resisting would be in vain ; if we were capable of ourselves of a truth, 
we would need no God ; and the conclusion would be, the Deity- 
would be without honour. The most humble man is possessed of 
the best wisdom ; he that thinks least of a form of clay, readily most 
esteems the Lord. The mind is never empty nor never still ; if the 



80 IMPRESSIONS OF THE MING. 

soul is not going on towards heaven, she is travelling down to hetf. 
She is ever walking by direction, but for want of information is 
exceedingly unwise in choice ; like one that has never travelled, she 
knoweth not the way, and walking alone, or by some stolen means 
of our own choice, we fall into a pit, and the flames of hell arise 
about us. The soul is life, and who can feel these things, and commu- 
nicate to the world the errors of action, and the events of sin? — We 
could not sin were there not a law given, neither could we resist 
without an object to den}^ and all things are set in order for the infor- 
mation of the man, before he is born into the world ; but a little self- 
confidence enables us to pass by all these way marks, and like a silly 
child, tells us we can walk alone. Woe to that soul that feels the 
want of a Creator's strengthening hand, for she is without comfort, 
and in the midst of the flame is relying only on the mercies of an 
offended God. Here self comes to an end. It is self-confidence 
that perishes, and not the mind ; the mind knoweth self to depart as 
an unwelcome guest from the house, so doth pride and self-confidence 
leave the mind at God's command. The soul, through disobedience 
to revelation, becomes weak, and can do nothing for herself, and 
God has to do all for the lost sinner or he is forever undone. To 
prove that the mind is life, my spirit knoweth all these things, and 
that the will of God is the measures of the man, and it is less possible 
to go beyond our bounds than the billows of the sea. 

The living hath an eye to see, 

A tender heart to feel ; 
They have a list'ning ear to hear, 

A tongue to truth reveal. 

These know the mountain and the vale, 

They feel the fall and rise ; 
Their wandering feet restored again, 

A sun to light their eyes. 

They know the banquet that was poor, 

Because the heart can feel ; 
They know temptations lead astray, 

For thus events reveal. 

Without life hell would be no terror more than sickness is to those 
that are in the grave. Life is a mediator between God and man, 
capable of receiving from hie right hand, and from his left ; he 
chastizes with the one, and heals with the other; he casts into prison 
in his anger, and releases when he is satisfied. Whom should we 
fear but God only ? His power is almighty, and his title is just. 
Without him we can do nothing. We make use of his precious gifts 



WHAT 13 LIFE? SI 

16 sin, and offend the Lord. If thou would give to thy friend the 
cordials of health, and he should pour them on a stone, would it not 
offend thee ? Then be sensible, for God is intelligence to life front 
a far country. Doth it not grieve a father to see his child run into 
the fire or the water, and perish in one, or be lost in the other. It 
is to him as the loss of the field to the husbandman, in which he had 
hope. He expected to strew his counsels in his vineyard, and 
receive great joy, but behold, it is lost, — it is given to another by 
the keeper. So are the children of men, that give their heart to 
false commandments, and they smart for it in life — for life is given 
as a medium through which we shall receive great misery or endless 
joys. Life can feel and therefore discern the chastizing hand of 
Almighty God, who doeth nothing without a cause, nor injustice to 
the children of men. Now let us improve life, she is worthy, and 
we have the means ; what has been left undone in past ages by the 
builders and cultivators, let us do in this. I have said the world is 
not perfect : we are visited with miserable events for sin, and without 
some other doctrine is practised than this we subsist upon, our 
sorrows will not abate. The priest nor prelate hath not kept sorrows 
from the earth, nor conviction from the heart of man. Let us seek 
farther than they have revealed. An offering is wanting that God 
hath not received, otherwise we Would be the heirs of peace, that 
are now the victims of misery — and drag out our days like so many 
captives in bonds. Let us make trial — let us bring our offerings to 
the gates of the Lord's house. We will not sin in sincerely trying to 
do well, if we err, as simple children, the Lord that knoweth our 
need will teach us with pleasure, for it is an honour to the Lord to 
be the salvation of men. If he frowns on this day's work, we will 
change on the morrow, 'till we find the offering that will receive the 
sentence of " well done." Who hath pleased the Lord ? We will put 
him foremost in the battle, he hath the strongest mind, because he 
hath been fed with meat, from the kingdom of Heaven. We will 
walk in his hand, till we can run alone ; we will borrow of him till 
we have something ourselves, and thence we will burden our friend 
no more. 

He that hath been accepted can lead us in the paths of accep- 
tance ; and that which he shall give unto us, shall be as water to the 
thirsty, and will quench our thirst : for we were enquiring the way 
to the city of God, and hath found a friend directing us onward, for 
his counsels are good. He placed our feet where they did not slide, 
and wicked spirits were subject to his word. If this is not the way 
to improve life, I am mistaken ; it hath been my way, and I have 
found peace, the fountain of living waters. How can I change? 
The will of God is stronger in me than the will of man, and self- 
confidence bows in my soul as the little child beneath the burdens 

F 



82 IMPRESSIONS OF THE MIND. 

of a man ; and this is the way I improve life, discerning the right 
hand of God from the left, and thereby shun the paths of trouble, 
walking in the paths of reputation, for communicating wisdom to the 
world. As the master is above the scholar, so are those that can 
teach above them that are untaught in the school of wisdom; and 
who can take their crown away? They received it from the Lord 
with a thankful heart, in a time of trouble, it was as wine to the 
thirsty, as meat to the hungering soul, and a sure mantle in the 
storms. These operations are the effects of life ; life is the gift of 
God, and is from his own bosom, as much as the child is born of his 
mother. The body is nothing but a covering, house, or habitation 
for the mind ; she removes again to the bosom of her father. Spirit 
cannot feed on flesh. This is the subsistence of the body; but the 
spirit draws from the bosom of the Lord as the infant from the 
mother's love — is full and is satisfied. Do we not know what to feed 
upon ? Can we see the pathway to walk in, or the highway for men, 
and then say we know not the way, when we have daily counsels 
from the heart of experience, as rain descending from the city of 
God or gentle dews from a Creator's hand? Oh self-confident soul ! 
who made thee stronger than the adviser? who taught thee to run 
without a parent's care ? Whosoever hath done this, hath led thee 
into the ditch, and there to improve life, and the event of thine action 
will teach thee thou art a self-confident fool. Then thou hast known 
more than the priest could tell ; he could not communicate unto thee 
thy feelings obtained by self-confidence, but he could communicate 
words to thine ears to affect thy mind, to place thy feet upon, and 
receive them into thy house, as a guest from heaven or even the 
bread of life for thy soul to subsist upon. Feeling is the last teacher. 
He that knoweth not that the fire will burn by running into it, need 
not fear the gates of hell. He that can endure conviction and not 
feel, is fire-proof. He that can sin and not be sorrowful is the brute 
and not the man ; he has or is possessed of an animated life, but is 
a stranger to the purpose : he lives like a fool and dies like a brute. 
An estate was given him, a wilderness to improve, a mind to plant 
in, and reap the joys. No, he left these things undone, and God left 
him out of the kingdom of heaven, to die without fear or favour of 
father or friend. He has lived like an idle creature, he has gained 
nothing ; he has returned to dust without the honours of the Lord, 
and the vengeance of God will consume his character forevermore, 
for his name shall be despised and hated of men ; the hills shall 
not declare his glory, the vallies shall be a stranger to his cause ; 
the earth shall not bear up his name, and his remembrance shall 
forever cease. He became a parent without sense, his children 
were orphans, his wife was forever as the widow ; she lived without 
a friend, and wore the mantles of despair all her life. Life is ths 



WHAT IS DEATH? 83 

powers of the mind, communicated unto us as intelligence from a 
far country, or a distant city that we can never measure. So wisdom 
has no end, and is more extensive than the bounds of the sea, beyond 
the compass of the skies, so unbounded are the measures of life, and 
I will seek forevermore. 

And as I seek I'll find, 
For life 's not sought in vain ; 
Oh God enlarge my feeble mind, 
Restore to thee again. 

By thee the sun arose, 
He came at thy command ; 
By thee we see our dangerous foes, 
And their unhappy land. 

We shun the hidden snare, 
The pit t' would take us in ; 
For pris'ners long are howling there, 
That doth delight to sin. 

My sister, come with me, 
I '11 place thy feet secure ; 
I'll teach thine eyes the rock to see, 
Thy buildings shall endure. 



February 20th, 1833. 
WHAT IS DEATH! 

Death is a companion to life, and these two change the mind* 
They are as the balance in which all things are weighed, the deci- 
sion ot our deeds, the event of action, and the knowledge of the 
truth. Death binds sin with a cord, death casts into prison, death 
binds that none can release, and stills all the actions of sin. There 
is life and death in the animated creatures that has little or no part 
in reforming or improving the man. Philosophers may write about 
this, and give intelligence to the world, and sinners may hear, and 
profit nothing, except they fear, and contemplate upon the works of 
God. 

Death is a strong spirit unseen, to which life gives way. Life is 

weakened by sin, and death has gained a usurping victory over the 

•children of men. There is no conquering this foe or moth to our 

earthly joys, but by deeds of righteousness. These weaken the 

f2 



&4 IMPRESSIONS OF THE MOB. 

sting of death, drive fear from the soul, and assume the whole 
heart of the man. There is no space or time appointed for us to 
sin, so doing is time lost — not only time lost, but comforts are gone, 
by these deeds we once enjoyed, and without righteousness will 
return no more. The mind is as a spring of living water, the weH 
is there that will satisfy every thirst. We cannot catch water in 
nets, neither can we make cords of drops of rain, nor invent any 
thing to obtain blessings from heaven but a righteous life ; no one 
can draw water without means. The sinner is so ignorant through 
imagination, he sets himself out on the journey to receive blessings 
without the mercy of God, he desires to enjoy for his own pleasure^ 
not receive that he may have somewhat to glory in of the goodness 
of his Creator, but exclusively to gratify his brutal thirst. Vain 
man ! he runs to meet death, he seeth him not that he is in the way ; 
he is clothed with the shadows of the night, as a snare set in a 
pit. He taketh strangers by the feet, and he will not let them go 
till he is satisfied. He maketh a prey of life ; he destroyeth all the 
comforts of the mind as a thoughtless brute in the vineyard of the 
Lord. He leavetli not a plant in it to bear, no not one ; the man or 
mind is left without one deed to glory in. Death is the harvest of 
invention ; he gathereth in, and casts into the fire. Will not fire 
consume hay, wood, and stubble ? Truly, so sure it is, it will upon 
the same principle destroy all the w T orks of men, but not of God, 
because he is over all operating power; all moves and cease at his 
command. Will not warning save an infant from the flame ? if not, 
vain is the prayer of the father, or the tender mother's desire. We 
cannot save from sin we know, but can direct the child in the paths 
of life, where death stands passive and without terror, and when the 
stock of corn is fully ripe, he gathereth in the faithful as a harvest 
of joys unto the Lord ; and although we may say that death stands 
in the way of all men, yet let us add, that there is a material differ- 
ence in his operations. He gathers the wicked into hell, but the 
righteous home to God, that hath been long distant like a friend in a 
far country, so are the aged, and the righteous they pray to return 
to God, and fall asleep with their fathers that hath served the Lord ; 
but the wicked groan fearing consequences. From whence cometh 
this fear? Why do we crave to hide a little longer from the pres- 
ence of the Lord ? We feel as the maiden half dressed, we are 
ashamed of our nakedness ; and although God hath made us, sin 
hath clothed us with shame before his face. These are only the 
shadows of death that so affects the mind with disease. How the 
sick covet to rise ! They are afraid to go. Is there no assurance 
that our peace can be made with God? There is; I testify loudly, 
that when conviction ceaseth, God is pleased, and requireth not 
repentance at our hands ; but while fear causes the frame to trembU 



WHAT 18 DEATH? 85 

and the mind shaketh with fear and quakes before the Lord, we are 
indebted that offering to God, for our sins, that without which we 
shall see no salvation. Therefore to acquaint ourselves with death, 
and give a full answer to the question, What is death ? we must 
state to the world his various operations on the mind. He is a ser- 
vant of the Lord, and sent of God to answer his great purpose in 
the earth. We can acquaint ourselves with strangers ; let us shake 
hands with death, tell how he feels, and warn our little ones to fear 
the Lord. Is it possible to fortify against his sting? The writer 
answers yea. I have not feared his name for many years ; how did 
I get on to this stage of action is a question, but easy is the reply. 
I reflected on his threatening consequences. If I did not repent of 
sin, he told me he would cast me into hell, there should be weeping 
and gnashing of teeth, where sinners cannot comfort one another. 
We have emblems and figures of this condition in life ; for where 
the spirit of the sinner reigns as a prince on the throne, there is 
comfort to no man. Is there any path to flee from the sting of 
death ? There is, and the patriarchs of old did not dread his sting 
more than a weary mind the bed of rest; and therefore in the arms 
of death they quickly fall asleep, as the child at the mother's breast. 
The commands of God effected this operation, and I have the same 
chance with these, and so hath every other sinner. The kingdom 
}f heaven is not full, neither hath the living spring gone dry ; there 
is mercy for every penitent in the bosom of the Lord. Death ope- 
rates on us, as we are as seed fitted for the soil, and he hath operated 
on my mind to fear the Lord ; and when I put in practice the fear of 
the Lord, I fled from the iron hands of death ; his hands were colder 
than clay, harder than iron. His sentence made all my soul to shake 
and tremble before the Lord. 

Time was not at his command — he was but the servant, a limited 
servant, (to whom God hath given great space in these latter years.) 
God gave me time to try me whether I would practise the fear of 
his name or not. I did so ; deeds will witness for my spirit that I 
lie not before the mighty God of Jacob. Thus the sting of death 
departed from me, and he was a profitable visitor to my soul indeed, 
for he placed my feet in the hidden way, and bid me flee the ven- 
geance of the Lord. Can I complain of his arrows, the hardness 
of his iron hands? His bosom was to me as a consuming flame, and 
yet a just visitor ; for I had not feared the Lord in all my days. This 
is making proper use of the chastising hand of God. He was then 
before me, but now he followeth after. I continue in the way of his 
direction, his very frown gave me light. I must flee all the days of 
my life. God is between him and me, he cannot overtake me if I 
will do the will of the Lord. I see him not in righteousness, shall 
I fear him in death ? No, he is death. I have granted his com. 
f3 



86 IMPRESSIONS OF THE MIND. 

mands, and what demands has he on my soul to punish for sinning 
against God? None. Then why should I be distressed by him, or 
fear him that hath no power? for of such he is to them that do well, 
but an immoveable terror to the w r icked. As long as we sin, the 
sting of death is the recompense ; and the soul, which is the endow- 
ment of life to these bodies of clay, can feel all these things, see 
with spiritual eyes, and reveal to the world the hidden snare the little 
child hath never seen, and through love direct the little ones to shun 
the pit, and deliver their feet from the snares of death. Him or her 
that believeth is terrified enough by parental counsel ; they wish to 
run no farther to see whether the doctrine of the priest is true ; they 
flee and glory in God their Creator, they see the stubborn fallen, and 
no hand to say unto them arise, there thou must pay for shunning 
counsels, there thou must do for thyself, that despised thy father and 
mother, that is God that is in heaven, and his Church on earth, that 
gave thee suck and fed thee from her tender breast. 

See clearly child, the way is clear, 
Now where doth death and hell appear? 
They 're not but in the sinner's way, 
Still binding these that doth delay. 

The stubborn daily weaker grow, 
Their sins are strengthening to their foe ; 
In a short space his cords will bind 
The stubborn and resentful mind. 

It is no sin the child to be, 
For these, O God, are chose by thee ; 
These thou hast seen with weeping eyes, 
And built their mansion in the skies. 

Humility is not shame, but an ornament to the mind. If we should 
condescend to hear that repeated that we have known before, it would 
not hurt the mind. There are many repetitions given the world of 
the good word of God, and God hath not seen that it is yet enough ; 
he enjoins on my soul to call people to repent from exaltation, and 
humble themselves before the Lord. If the calls of the prophets 
had sufficed God, I had been willing. It is a hard service to contest 
with these that are resolved on embracing death. They run to meet 
him in the way ; they had rather place their feet in the midst of hell 
than humble themselves to receive the counsels of the Lord. Like 
a strong tower they stand in this world immoveable by the prayer of 
the father or the desires of a tender mother. They prepare for death 
with all the heart, they cry when none can hear, and like a soul in 
hell cry for help when help is gone. Is not death of different effect 



WHAT IS DEATH? 57 

to these, from those that serve the Lord ? As different as rain is to 
the tender grass, as the waters that drown our lives in despair. The 
rain is water, and so is the sea ; the dew is a comfort from heaven 
to the plant that thirsts for the refreshments of God, but the same 
element will drown him that hungers for dry land. So is death dif- 
ferent in operation to the righteous and to the sinner ; he comforts 
the weary, but destroys the joys of the joyful that are rejoicing with- 
out the vineyard of the Lord, or beyond the counsels of his word. 

Hear my son, heaven is a store for thee, the keys are in the keep. 
er's hand ; no thief can enter there — the walls are strong — they are 
higher than the skies, and broader than the space of the earth ; thou 
cannot ascend above them, or flee beyond thorn : God has made 
these things impossible. That which he hath forbidden to move 
cannot change. The commands of God are the keys of the hidden 
mansion. Make use of these, and the portals of his house will open 
unto thee. No saint will bar thee from this kingdom ; he will bid 
thee welcome there, he will lend his hand to thee. His spirit will 
come down from heaven ; his love will be wings to thy spirit, he will 
bear thee upwards as on the wings of a cherub. No death is in his 
way ; he acquainted himself with death while in the body. He 
consumed his power through the deeds of righteousness — these are 
they that are according to the revealed will of God, and farther than 
this thou art not accountable to angels in heaven. Read out the 
mysteries of life my daughter — know that our temporal joys are 
subject to death. We cannot confide in them ; they will pass away 
as the shadow of the night, and leave us as a deluded soul in a 
strange land. Walk in the pathway of these that hath found the 
city ; practise not an unbelieving heart, it will alienate thy soul to 
God, and leave thee without a friend. No one can be happy alone, 
we must be in communion with the saints of old ; these are in the 
bosom of the Lord, out of the reach of temptation, and consequently 
free from the terrors of death. Let death be as a messenger from 
the Lord unto thee, warning thee to repent. Do not be so confident 
in thy young and inexperienced years ; lean a little longer on the 
bosom of thy father, and be tender to thy mother's breast : it hath 
been a fountain of joys to thee when thou could not feed thyself. 
Despise her not when she is old, and seeking help of thee. When 
thou canst restore, repay her for her tender kindness, and comfort 
her from the obedience of thy bosom ; and thou shalt comfort her 
in her age, and repay her for a mother's joys. Be not hard of heart, 
for this is offending to God ; he will repay thee with hardness again. 
He will send death to thy bed-side, and thou shall sign covenants 
with him, that breaketh thy promise with God thy Creator. He will 
not own thee for his daughter in the hour of thy sorrow ; thou des- 
pised him and honoured him not as thy father. How can he be a 



88 IMPRESSIONS OF THE MINE. 

parent to thee in affliction? Fear his name while there is one hour 
to spare. I, the writer, am of a tender heart, wishing salvation and 
peace to all the sons and daughters of the Lord. I sell my rebukes 
for sin, at the expense of frowns from the reproved : and so I pass 
on with sorrow to the grave. I see my children despise the chosen 
bread of their father; for so is the Church to me, this little gathering 
almost in a desert land. I will record my life on paper. Some may 
read after me ; I will leave them in the vineyard of the Lord, and 
go hence to be seen of you no more. I shall depart from you with- 
out the affecting sting of death. Time weareth not away my hope, 
but increaseth my joys. The shadow of death doth not veil mine 
eyes from things to come : I am safe in the service of the Lord. 
His love hath been a hedge about me, and death cannot leap over 
the wall. He will come at the time appointed, when the righteous 
crave to enjoy their rest. Then will I sign covenants with him 
without fear, and seal them with my blood ; for I know his pover is 
gone, and his breath as empty as the wind. May I not tell the 
wonders of the Lord ? These are the joys of my life : I glory in 
them. The revelation of the Lord is the riches of my sou), I have 
in store for my children. They will not receive of me bread from 
the kingdom of heaven. I can only witness, God is the power, but 
my words are truth ; and my heart has gone before my tongue in all 
these things that are written. 

Death, empty sound or hollow blast, 

A bubble like the wind, 
Thine arm is weak, thy power is past, 

When we repent who've sinn'd. 

An empty space where mountains move, 

And 's hidden in the sea, 
For thou art from the child of love, 

Thy terrors far from me. 

No death is in the sinner's way; 

When he 's resolved to turn, 
He'll find the debt but light to pay, 

And hell will cease to burn. 

Mountains will move at his command, 

(As those from David fled,) 
Long on a rock his feet shall stand, 

Salvation crown his head. 

In peace he'll tell his foes they're vain, 

Nor death nor hell need try ; 
For God in heaven has wrote his name, 

His soul shall never die. 



WHAT IS DEATH? 89 

Bright sons will from the deep arise, 

Such as the worlds hath never known ; 
For God will make his people wise, 

And wisdom mark them for her own. 

Her hands hath made their pathway clear, 
And God commands the Church to move ; 

She doth like to the morn appear, 
Or infant of her mother's love. 

She 's cloth'd with raiment white as snow, 
Save drops of prophet's blood are seen : 

She 's like a garden here below, 

Where all the plants are fresh and green. 

She 's like the meadow clothed with dews, 

Or like a deep and crystal spring ; 
Strangers delight to hear her news, 

Because she doth good tidings bring. 



When I see wonders in the skies, 
And sorrow in the earth below, 

I J m certain suns from death will rise, 
And tell us things we do not know. 

There is a dreadful storm at hand, 
Before the morning sun shall rise, 

Jehovah's wrath shall scourge the land, 
And make a remnant poor and wise. 

He '11 place the humble on a throne, 
A humble heart the scale shall hold; 

He '11 build a kingdom of his own, 
On pillars that were laid of old. 

Israel of old shall ever stand, 

The Lord hath marked them for his own ; 
Their deeds shall ornament the land, 

Their Prince be never overthrown. 

Bright are the sons of Israel's days, 
The happy morning hastes to come ; 

David shall tune his harp to praise, 
Jehovah's will shall all be done. 



90 IMPRESSIONS OF THE MIND. 



February 22nd, 1833. 

THE IMPRESSIONS OF DIVINE LOVE, OR THE PARENTAL 
CARE OF GOD TO MAN. 

My best sense of the human mind is this— that man is a subordinate 
creature, and hath nothing to glory in save this, that he has been a 
servant to God his creator. How far the mind may be enlarged, for 
time to come I cannot tell. The measures of the mind are in the 
bosom of the Lord. No man can reveal God to the world, neither 
could his works contain him, for he is greater than all extent that 
we can imagine, and can be but imperfectly known. The knowledge 
of the mind is the salvation of men, the peace of the world, and the 
joys of the heart. It is all that we can hunger, or thirst for at any 
time. The want of which, is the cause of all true prayer that is offer- 
ed up to God. The power of revelation is not ours, neither are we 
intrusted with it — 'till it is prayed for, and is given unto us ; from 
whence we cannot tell — it comes and goes — and our days are not 
alike : one day we will rejoice, and another mourn, and it is beyond 
the powers of the mind to reveal to the world, the cause of obedience 
to these impressions. We can only say we believe them to be 
parts of a deity, they ebb and flow as the tide — and why they come 
and go, we cannot tell. I am now writing in the book of nature, or 
revealing man to himself, for the peace of his own mind, or the 
salvation of his soul. I have set out on the journey and must travel 
nature through, trusting I shall see God in the end — not see him as a 
distinct being from man, but see all my given propensities, composed 
as the house of the Lord in order on the throne, and my heart in 
subjection to the Divine will. Man trieth many objects in his 
pilgrimage from earth to Heaven, like a wayfaring man, his space of 
rest in these public inns, are but for an evening and a morning. He 
must rise and travel. again — he is not satisfied, he is yet seeking new 
discoveries — -he knoweth not what will appear in prospect by 
travelling ; but this he knows, his mind is not at rest, a living thirst 
remains in his bosom for something he never tasted, or to behold 
that he never saw. His eyes are watchful on the journey — he 
thinketh at times he seeth the city, and traveleth onward with cheerful 
hope, but as soon as he enters the gates of the city, he beholds 
strangers in the dwelling places ; he closes up his concerns — he 
saith but little — taketh leave of his friends in the morning, pays the 
cost for their moments of comfort, and sets forward again to some 
distant hill. All this he performs to teach his soul that pleasure is 
not here on earth, but in Heaven above, some distant and unknown 
space where God hath concealed it from his eyes. When a man 



THE IMPRESSIONS OF DIVINE LOVE. 91 

has thus travelled all the days of his life, from hill to hill, and from 
city to city, he has not progressed heyond the bounds of his mind. 
The extent is far off, and past finding out — none knoweth it but God 
alone, and to whom he will reveal the hidden mansion. Every 
child can testify of what he knoweth — the infant expresses want by 
weeping, and the soul never will cease to cry till her measures are 
full. There are no lasting joys below the sun, or the light of heaven. 
The mother can comfort her babe, but he weeps again. God can 
give us an evening's rest, but our thirst is not satisfied : want still 
repeats her cries in the heart of a man. It is the hand of God that 
doeth all this. A brute may as well eat mill-stones, as for a man to 
satisfy himself. God is the author of this plant that makes us 
miserable — he is the hnsbandman of the soul, and streweth in it 
what he will. Oh that I knew how to teach, my tongue should be 
free as water, and my pen mark the way to the city of God. I 
believe in no kingdoms beyond the measure of the mind, more than 
I believe that one city is heaven and another hell. Kingdoms are 
but figures of conveyance to lead us to the mind. There is a high- 
way in every man's heart, in which he travels all the days of his 
life, and he finds death at the end of the journey to put out his eyes, 
and to still his feet. Death is a gate to pass through, after which the 
living see the dead no more. If we should presume to tell what is 
beyond Death, it would be the presumptious imagination of the heart 
offered to God, presuming to teach what we cannot know till we go 
thence, from whence we will not return. As this hidden mansion is 
a space beyond my experience, I will not presume to reveal to the 
world things I cannot tell. I have nothing to do with men farther 
than the gates of the city, I must leave them there for admission let 
their end be good or ill. But now I enter on the solemn journey — 
and as I discover, so read to my brother and sister, and mark the 
way with my pen, that these may know where I am gone that read 
after me. My journeys in the mind have been long and tedious — I 
find them to be but circles in the mind. I always return to the 
place of beginning, and find every thing alive in me that I have 
possessed from my childhood, not one propensity is worn out by 
travelling, all is with me, and is the living soul that is within me, and 
my propensities lead the way. They are as so many beloved friends 
of mine, asking me to go with them on a journey to such a place, 
and see something we have not known — I am willing and ready to 
obey the call. What is nearer than a man's own heart, ready to 
grant the desire ? for I am fond of seeing, that I have not seen, and 
of knowing that I have not known. Now to speak of God is beyond 
the measures of the man, but he can tell of his own heart, when he 
knoweth it, and discover to the world how frail he is. His body of 
flesh and blood is a figure of his mind, and his deeds tell his heart 



92 IMPRESSIONS OF THE MIItD. 

to all mankind. Our passions are as so many princes, ruling one 
at a time in the midst of us, for one object will take all our attention 
for a moment, and then another ; so our mind like a wandering dove, 
or pelican, is wandering from place to place, seeking peace on earth 
and finding none. And long it taketh for an experienced mind to 
know the world is vain, and all that is in it. It is but a kingdom for 
the body, affording our supplies, but of little comfort to the soul. 
But it is not made in vain, the proper use thereof, comforts the mind 
as far as its predestinated degree can extend. Food and raiment is 
all that earth can afford ; and he that seeketh further will find 
disappointment in the end. He that feeds his mind with needless 
supplies deceives his own soul, and will find sorrows in the end ; he 
has made death his store-house, and in the end sorrows will be 
revealed unto him from the bosom of the Lord. God keepeth a 
book of remembrance. By comparison we understand the things 
of God, for all is his that he hath communicated unto us ; and as 
we cannot do as we will, nor find pleasure in the distant hills and 
mountains, we must acknowledge there is a Supreme Being that 
rules over us. It is as needful that we should know ourselves to be 
nothing, before we can honour God with sublime praise, as it is to 
know a sandy soil will not produce comfort to the mind. 

We now proceed to tell that all must be by God's direction. Not 
one of our living, moving, or inviting propensities can be alone ; 
God must be the father of them, and they are servants and subject 
to the Lord. They may in justice be accused of lieing unto us, but 
not wilfully so, for they sincerely convey to us all the truth that 
they contain ; but their counsels can be confounded by an over- 
ruling Providence, and our imagination brought to nothing from 
whence it first arose. It is but an impression without measure, rule, 
line, or order ; it proceedeth out from God, and returns again ; then 
how can it arise from nothing ? because it is imagination, and is, 
therefore, no substance, neither can it be the truth. We know not 
from whence it cometh nor whither it goeth, and is therefore a servant 
of the Lord, and a false master unto us, because it revealeth not 
the truth. From whence cometh the shadow ? We observe the 
cloud over us obstructing the light of the sun ; it is presently gone 
and seen no more. God suffered not the light of the sun to shine 
through the cloud, neither has he the truth through the things of 
this world ; but he has suffered them to rule over us that we should 
know that they are false. No man can measure the contents of a 
shadow, neither can he the imagination of the mind ; for before he 
is' ready it is changed into another form as the shadow, and is there- 
fore unmeasureable by men. The wise king said all was vanity ; 
and the world vexed him, for it was full of disappointments, and no 
resting place for the sole of the foot in it. Now that God is not the 



THE IMPRESSIONS OF DIVINE LOVE. 93 

author of imagination I am not about to deny ; the spreading out 
of his hand hath formed the shadow andgiven dimensions to it, and 
it is subject to him alone ; from man it fleeth away. Tell, who can 
bind imagination with a cord? and I will tell in return who can close 
up the shadow of the cloud in his fist and retain it to himself. God 
is the author of all these unbounded operations ; they are visitors 
sent unto us from the kingdom of heaven, and God has given them 
space here below, that is while our mind abides in earthly things 
and our thoughts are in pursuit of them. They are all reconciled 
together in the kingdom of God, and it is this reconciliation that is 
the kingdom of heaven within the compass of the mind ; it is in 
truth a composition of our thoughts where life is reconciled to itself, 
and knoweth that an unknown king ruleth over them. The mind 
can testify of God as a master, and every propensity of the mind 
can testify they are not free, as they would have composed a king- 
dom of heaven of the things of this world ; the cities, hills, gardens, 
and river sides ; but our thoughts are mistaken — and by taking on 
such burdens we find how weak we are. It cannot be accomplished, 
because there is another greater than our designs, one who can 
accomplish the salvation of the mind, and reconcile one part to the 
other, or life together ; and this is the salvation of the man. If our 
passions or propensities should rule over us forever, they would be 
God's, and everlastingly disputing about the kingdom, as they begin 
with us in life ; but God, an all-wise Providence, or parental friend, 
puts his servants to silence when they get too high, that is our vari- 
ous capacities in the mind, he stills them by his word, and all trem- 
ble at his sentence, for he is a threatening God to the exalted. Like 
as many humble children, the composition of the whole heart resigns 
to God, and with humble submission leans upon his breast from 
whence they came. He pities their mourning; even the soul that 
he chastises he visits with sorrow, and every acting capacity resigns 
to the place of order, and like as many criminals in court falls pros- 
trate from the exalted station before a righteous judge. Here ends 
the days of a self-wise thinking man, and he knoweth the Lord no 
other way than by power, and he is compelled by events to acknow- 
ledge he would, but he cannot do, nor accomplish his designs. 

Frail is that man whose thoughts doth rise, 
To mansions far above the skies ; 
As weak is he that sinks below, 
Where he can never see nor go. 

Our thoughts those distant kingdoms built, 
And to possess them blood is spilt ; 
They 're like the shadow, all in vain ; — 
My thoughts return, come home again, 



94 IMPRESSIONS OF THE MIND. 

Within the compass of thy mind, 
Thou wilt the lesser kingdom find, 
The city that 's of great extent, 
Is th' bosom of the penitent. 

There God we see, and God we own, 
And find the city t' was unknown; 
There power is love, and judgment light, 
That which was wrong again is right ; 

And all is order in the soul, 
When tides abate and billows roll. 
All, all are circles form'd to tread, 
Lo from the feet up to the head. 



March 13th, 1833. 

Deep is the mire and clay 
Where sinners place their feet; 
They meet destruction in their way, 
And deadly groans repeat. 

The soul most loudly cries, 
Where none attends to hear, 
Nor pity from their kindred's eyes 
Descends, no mournful tear. 

My soul is like to these, 
While measuring out their fate; 
Strong are their cords, or God's decrees 
Are mournful to relate. 

His word like iron bars 
That never rends in twain ; 
His spirit like the distant stars, 
That shone to us in vain. 

Our deadly sleeping eyes, 
Our dull and heavy ears, 
Are deaf when e'er his spirit cries, 
And blind when light appears. 



THE IMPRESSIONS OF DIVINE LOVE. 95 



March 17th, 1833. 

Though deep shall answer unto deep, 

Or sky to sky reveal ; 
There 's more where ancient prophets sleep, 

Than seas and hills conceal. 

Though stream should unto stream unite, 

Or hill to hill should join ; 
There 's more where man doth stand upright, 

Than all the floods of time. 

Though rivers flood their banks, and show 

They boundless deeps contain ; 
There 's more in words of truth below, 

For these are not in vain. 

Tho' men should sit on thrones most high, 
With strength'ning towers round ; 

There 's more where man's prepared to die, 
Than can in these be found. 



March 25th, 1833. 

Forbid the lion Lord to rage, 

Command him to be still ; 
He doih destroy in every age, 

Because it is his will. 

Tell shepherds to arise and see, 
And bid their flock attend ; 

The lion tribe that used to be, 
Is lamb-like in the end. 

Bid children walk with fear and care, 
And fear the paths that stray ; 

Attend to hear a shepherd's prayer, 
Who shun'd the lion's way. 

Oh children see the path before ! 

The stone securely lies, 
That leads from where the lions roar, 

And fools the truth despise. 



96 IMPRESSIONS OF THE tilNfo 



March 31st, 1833. 

Wisdom, thy ways are ways of peace, 
Thy children to thy ways resign ; 

Thy foes doth flee, thy friends increase, 
The heavens and the earth are thine. 

Angels thy peaceful ways attend, 

The earth delights to hear them sing; 

Thy songs shall never have an end, 
Thy harp shall sound on every string. 

Thy ways are harmless as the dove, 
Thy children mourns to hear thee cry ; 

Thou meets thine own with deeds of love, 
Thy foes thou gently passes by. 

Fools scorn thee and profane thy ways, 
The wise embrace thy tender breast ; 

Thou leads thine own to deeds of praise, 
And leaves thy foes with guilt oppress'd* 



The Lord spread out his hands, and I 

Saw hills and plains abroad, 
And blood from whence the prophets lie ? 

Descending down from God. 

His presence shone amidst the cloud, 

Like to the morning star, 
And angels round him sang aloud, 

Their song was — " all prepare." 

A sun will rise, a day will come, 
Hope measures out this way, 

The will of God shall all be done, 
Upon this glorious day. 

Come to the ancient tombs, and see 

What testaments declares, 
One day the captives shall be free, 

And dwell amidst the stars. 

As Israel once in glory shone, 
When kings and priests did reign, 

So God again rebuilds their home, 
And blots away their shame. 



[ 97] 

April 1st, 1833. 
THE CAUSE OF TROUBLE AND THE CAUSE OF JOY. 

Writing history from history is like a retailer of goods and wares ; 
he spreads them far abroad, but doth not change the quality. Every 
truth should wear its own mantle, and every mind be clothed with 
its own spirit, and history discover truths from the mind. Repetitions 
are not revelations — and one thing once over is enough, if a man's 
heart changes, his tongue will also be changed ; if he hath received a 
change of spirit, he will explain a change of action, he will shew 
forth by deeds he is not the same. I would write a few lines from 
my mind, and let it suffice to shew that my soul hath been with the 
Lord, and brings intelligence from his kingdom. It is written, that 
** man is born to trouble," but to prove the sentence true we must 
all acknowledge we cannot escape the truth of this holy sentence. 
Trouble is God's appointment, or men could turn aside from the 
troubled way. I shall not dwell on Scripture but write from mine 
own thought, and reveal the sorrows of the mind. We will not 
contradict sacred truths, but concur therewith ; for God is minded 
to make peace on earth ; but a great flood of trouble will first cover 
the highest hills, I mean the highest stations on earth. What 
can reach where the walls are silver and the pillars gold ? The 
world hath worshipped these metals to their own shame, and to a 
sorrowful end. If men could build a throne of peace, and establish 
covenants here, the name of God and Christ with the Evangelists 
giving an account of God, would wear out, and these sacred names 
would become lost ; but God has made this building impossible with 
the wisest of men, and he is but an exalted fool, that trys without 
calling on the name of the Lord. My text is trouble, and it will 
lead me to the cause — the child has trouble early in life — it is the 
moving of our young propensities towards a better kingdom than 
where we are at present. If a child is quieted at a mother's tender 
breast or father's table, hunger and thirst led him forward to the 
rejoicing place ; but a child cannot here remain, as his mind extends, 
want increases, he is not at rest, nor ever will be till bis mind returns 
to the bosom of God, from whence it came. As restless waters 
seek the sea, him that tries the most objects, prolongs the time and 
delays his own peace. The kingdom should be first sought, when 
we are capable of knowing we have a troubled mind ; the parent 
should go before the child, and the nearer the grave the more peace 
we should discover to the world, like one whose work is almost 
finished, and the parent pleased with the deeds of his hands. To 
see a man old and full of sorrow, indicates there is time lost — like a 

G 



9s IMPRESSIONS OF THE MIND. 

man that is poor in his latter days, and has his bread to earn when 
he is old, this will undoubtedly be the case with some of our house- 
hold to affright children from such a close of life. The tempest 
troubles the sea, and the wind disquiets still waters ; but seas and 
skies are the Lord's. He sets them at variance to answer his ends 
and the purposes of the creation. The world is a book to me, I often 
read therein without the help of the line of the philosopher, or the 
points of astronomy. I behold the works of God with my naked eye 
without glass or invention, and the deeds of a righteous God convey 
sentences to my heart, from which I write this day. God maketh 
the winds and waves to agree, when it pleases his contending 
powers — he speaketh peace and these are still at his command, they 
resist not neither do they refuse to obey, for then is it well pleasing 
for winds and waters to obey still. They overthrow the wise 
mariner in the deep waters, he cannot conquer them, his house is 
lost and seen no more. How terrible is thy name O God, in the 
rolling billows of the deep, not one is there without thy command not 
one beyond the hearing of thy word ! 

With one accord they all obey, 
Oh troubled deep why did thou rise ? 
Or darkening clouds overspread the skies ? 
Or rudest tempest, why dost thou 
Ne'er break, or not perform thy vow ? 

My life will well compare with these, 
My thoughts doth move like troubled seas, 
I cannot bid the wave be still, 
Because it 's not thy Maker's will. 

The tempest seeks a calm, and the beating sea still waters, and 
leave each of these to their allotment, and they will be so. A 
hurricane never bloweth out of a clear sky, neither doth the billows 
rise without the storm. Peace is the intent of the creation — it is 
God's delight. But with many things it pleases an angry God to 
trouble a sinful world. Our mind of itself would be at rest, — 

But God hath planted trouble there — 
When will our sorrow cease to bear? 
Like to the hidden deepest sea, 
So trouble has no end with me. 

God could have given rest to the mind of the infant, but he hath 
set the plant in the young and tender breast, and as soon as the 
child weepeth, it gathers in from the tree of sorrow; before it 
knoweth good or evil, tempestuous^ trouble will disquiet the infant 






THE CAUSES OF TltOUBLE AND JOY. 99 

fnind. Ere we were formed of the Lord it was not so ; and when 
we return it will cease. Sorrows are as stepping stones to set our 
feet upon, the more we haste the shorter will be the journey. We 
must have as much sorrow and disappointment sooner or later, as 
will make us distrust the things of this world to cease our sorrows, and 
look up to him by whom the storms abate. The parent is short in 
comforting the child : God must be all in all, he is the only 
commander that winds and seas obey, the wisest seaman is in vain 
in his rage, and so is the most skilful priest. He is now and then 
sweeping the earth and sea with destruction, that the living may 
tremble and fear his name. The thunders speak loudly in our ears, 
who can still their voice ? The lightning surprises our eyes, who 
can set bounds to its space ? None, Oh Lord, thou well knowest. 
Thou hast set these things in the skies, and in the deep waters to 
tell of thee. Thou hast troubled the extensive mind of the learned 
and of great men. Who can hide from thee ? A little child, Oh God, 
is the way home from whence we came ; then let our sorrows be 
without sin, and we shall have a reward from thee for all our groans. 
There is nothing troubles the man, save this, the creation is not 
reconciled in him, till he doeth the work appointed him to do ; then 
all will be still, and his spirit prepared for the fountain from whence 
it came. Did you ever see waters contented on the hill side, that 
had a course to run 1 If not, thou never wilt see men at peace till 
they fulfill the purpose of their appointment. We begin to cry 
when we are young — and continue our weeping when we are old. 
There is nothing appointed to stay with us, a man must part with 
every thing he has but God alone. The more we love the world, 
the more we will sorrow about it ; for it will not stay with us. The 
child may love the mother's tender breast, but he is sure to cry at 
the parting hour. He may love the table that the father has set for 
him, it will not always suffice, he is not contented there, he must set 
his own — he must do for himself, and tell his children how peace is 
won ; give up vanities early in life — believe the prophets and the 
Son of God, with every patriarch that hath conquered his foes, and 
sees peace, — his mind is at rest, — he is only waiting for the gates of 
heaven to open and take him in. But if his sorrows yet continue, it 
is to lengthen out the line to his little ones — that they may be wiser 
than past ages (through the counsels of their father) who hath come 
short in the glory of God. 

Oh let this line be given and sung, 

A song of God's decrees, 
Oh children with a humble tongue, 

Repeat such lines as these. 
g2 



100 IMPRESSIONS OF THE MIND. 

Your trouble 's but a moment here, 

If you the Lord obey, 
He '11 stay the little infant's tear, 

And put his sighs away. 

Then as the limb to manhood grows, 

Or to a soul's estate, 
-His spirit's stronger than his foes, 

And bids the storms abate. 

His fields are green, his hedge is strong, 

Nor trouble stays therein, 
He drowns his sorrows in a song, 

And ends where they begin. 



April 7th, 1833. 



Cubit will after cubit rise, 
'Till men on earth shall reach the skies ; 
Wisdom's bright hand doth plainly show, 
Our way to Heaven from earth below. 

How plain 's these lines by wisdom drawn, 
That leads to where our father 's gone, 
How his descending love doth show, 
The vanity of worlds below. 

The throne 's establish'd and I'll see, 
What has been done, and is to be ; 
Truth rides the skies on chariot wheels, 
That measures time, and truth reveals. 

What is to be, is still unknown, 
But half the sun hath partly shone ; 
As three times three is three times o'er, 
What 's given to me is one to four. 






[ 101 ] 

April 13th, 1833. 
TRUTH ALONE. 

God is truth, and truth is of God ; but we must come to the ope- 
rations of this subject, or substance, to come to the knowledge of 
truth, without which, no man can be saved from the errors of sin. 

It is singular to our measures that any thing false or a lying tongue 
ever existed — seeing (through history) that every operating substance 
had its origination in the spirit of God. History doth not give us a 
perfect idea of every thing ; but truth alone speaks for itself. The 
knowledge of history is not always the knowledge of the truth. 

Historians disagree in things their eyes see, how much more shall 
we be confounded in the mind or the spirit of God which we see not? 
I will write a testimony from mine own soul or mind, and historians 
ma}' correct the errors hereafter. I «an speak of something I never 
received from history. Is not this the truth that teaches me my 
wrongs, and appoints a way for my soul to do better? The heart or 
mind is a combination of thoughts, quick in changing as the light- 
ning in the sky, passeth from sea to sea, and from shore to shore, 
quicker than the heart of a person can repeat one of his repeating 
strokes. 

Surprising what can agitate the mind, to such a degree of swift- 
ness, and not run out of order. How our thoughts will extend and 
return again to the place of their appointment, and discover nothing 
certain, yet they do not get lost from the mind, but as the wandering 
dove return at the appointed time. Truth must inspire the thoughts 
to wander from hill to hill, and from place to place. He sends them 
forth to bring home new discoveries to the mind. Our thoughts de- 
ceive us, and our mind alone is incapable of revealing the truth to man. 
If they extend to a far country, what intelligence can they convey 
to the mind? They are like as many blindfolded people seeking 
water in a thirsty land and finding none ; so are our thoughts of 
themselves about discovering truth of things unknown ; these have 
power to flee ; God hath given them wings swifter than the wind, 
in a moment they flee, and in one third part of that time return to 
the breast, or the mind of the man. God has not made them con- 
tented from the foundations of the world, they are wandering as 
doves, as the flocks without a shepherd, like as many pilgrims with- 
out a home. A regular composition of these is the kingdom of heaven. 
They are parentless as the orphan without the assistance of God. 
God is spirit, and our thoughts are such. None seeth them but God 
alone. Thoughts are the interpreter of the soul, and of no mean 
nor low dignity ; for they discover to the mind the insufficiency of 
g3 



102 IMPRESSIONS OF THE MIND. 

man to work his own salvation, and that his very thoughts need a 
shepherd over them, or the mind a keeper, or he is forever undone. 
Our thoughts discover our infirmity, and our deeds reveal them ; but 
truth turns us from the ways that are wrong, and places our feet in 
paths that are right. He that conquers the mind and binds our 
thoughts is stronger than man, and is a friend to his propensities. 

Good counsels are the issues of truth, but few receive them, be- 
cause the mind is stronger than the words of our friend, and hath 
power to resist every thing btit the love and vengeance of God. To 
these two great moving capacities, kings and counsels must give 
way ; these are the truth and nothing but the truth, and these are 
truth alone. Words or deeds issuing from the truth are accompanied 
by the mind and person of the man, which is long known to be fal- 
lible ; nevertheless man can speak, and God give evidence for or 
against his word. I have run many risks of this kind of reputation 
or character, and as I am not, nor never was accomplished with 
power to make good my testimony to the world, I have to submit all 
to the God of everlasting truth and endless power, and so I must 
these lines I am adding this day to these I have already written. 
Truth is an impressive power on the mind, agitating all our thoughts 
to rise from rest (as men asleep) and obey the word of the Lord. 
Our thoughts are not the truth, they flatter the mind with a false lan- 
guage and deceive the soul, inspire the tongue to speak lies ; and 
there is nothing worse than the mind of man is without direction. 
It is the seat of all evil, and abundantly wicked, who can know it 
but him that formed it and drew out the lines thereof, as from hill to 
hill, from shore to shore, and from sea to sea. Come home my 
thoughts and listen to the words of truth, the Lord will speak with 
thee, he will make the soul the bride of his bosom. She shall con- 
ceive of him, and bring forth wonders in the world. 

God is the truth, and the mind is a companion of the most high 
God. There is but one stronger than the mind. The soul of the 
world was and is born of the Lord. What father can give spirit to 
the son, or mother to the daughter ? They can bring forth the form, 
but God giveth spirit to the little one. Is God the father of lunatics, 
or every deformed mind? I do not believe it to be the will of the 
father to make the son a lunatic, or the mother her daughter silly; 
nevertheless these may have the less sin, and may not be so far 
astray as our deceitful thoughts report unto us. Their form is not 
desirable, yet it is beyond the power of our resistance to turn back 
the chastising hand of God. God hath made the simple wise, and 
the wise foolish, and who is able to correct him for the wrongs he 
did? or who can change the mind that God hath made thus for his 
own glory? Neither can I change my mind from what it is, for 
truth is stronger than the soul ? and bears up the mind like a floating 



TRUTH ALONE. 103 

bark abore the waters, by which I am here this day an evidence for 
God, for which purpose I was born into the world. No person is the 
truth alone, his best days are but as issues from the unexhausted 
fountain, and I bear my part on the records of history of the ever- 
lasting truth. Truth purifies the mind from clouds, which are the 
wages of sin. Sin bringeth death to the mind, and our thoughts to 
be as bondsmen in a strange land, far from the city of God. This 
is where our thoughts are combined in the service of God. God is 
a spirit, (comparatively speaking,) shining on the mind, as the sun 
without clouds upon the creation. Whosoever knoweth his own 
heart by this discovering light, knoweth his own soul to be a compo- 
sition of thoughts, as a restless family seeking peace and finding 
none, till it is given of God. 

As the dove fleeth from hill to hill, and from bough to bough, so 
these go mourning on the way, till this earthly habitation is laid into 
the tomb and is seen no more. But the sorrows of the mind still 
exist on earth ; sorrow ceaseth not at death. The house is mould- 
ering down to clay. The inhabitants fled at the fall thereof; but 
our sorrows do not reach the grave. The son will be clothed with 
the griefs of the father, and the daughter shed tears for her mother's 
woes, that are entailed upon the creation from generation to genera- 
tion, I said in my soul, O Lord God Almighty ! when will sorrows 
cease 1 when will the father cease to groan, and the mother to pour 
forth her tears for the young? And he answered me, Is not this the 
truth ? there is no joy in mourning, neither are the mother's tears 
wine to her breast. And I awoke and beheld the sky without clouds, 
and my soul ascending upwards. There is a kingdom above these 
woes, when the soul ceaseth to mourn, and the heart forgets her 
sorrows. I saw the city but far off, — I saw the family of the Lord 
at rest, and the wicked forgotten ; and hope as a maiden clothed in 
a white raiment led me by the right hand within the gates of the city, 
but gave me neither rest nor food within the walls of the quiet habi- 
tation of the Lord, neither did drops of water quench my thirst. She 
lifted me up and placed my spirit on her wings, and bore me to the 
furthermost parts of the earth. She left me in the bosom of despair, 
and went her way from whence she came. This is truth alcne, none 
but truth has such delivering and binding power over the mind, and 
man is not able to resist the truth when it corneth to him alone, with- 
out history or the tongue of the human organ that God has sent into 
the world to declare his will. The mind is his at all times to save 
or to destroy, to trouble or receive peace at his most sublime plea- 
sure, and this is the irresistible truth that none can conquer nor des- 
troy ; and truth will make peace on earth and bring the distant city 
near, and the inhabitants of old will be seen in it. We are the heirs 
of their sorrow ; but their spirits have gone to rest, and the Son of 



104 IMPRESSIONS OF THE MIND. 

righteousness that hath shone and will shine to all tfie earth, will dis- 
cover their kingdom to us with desires that we should enter therein 
and be partners in their joys, and leave our sorrows in a sinful world. 
When a man believeth with his whole heart, his sorrows shall cease 
for a short space of time ; but while his soul travelleth for the wicked, 
his spirit must sorrow with them, for in his own breast he will find 
them, and not in worlds abroad. There he will measure out their 
grief, feel as they feel, see as they see, and set out on the journey 
hand in hand with them for ihe city of God, travelling through dry 
places and regions of despair, where he will be forsaken of many ; 
but his staff is the truth : he has seen the city, and will not delay. 
As the descending waters seek their home, so his ascending soul 
pursueth his quiet rest. 

Oh blessed is the truth alone, 

He maketh not asham'd, 
He keeps salvation for his own, 

Whom he for heav'n has nam'd. 

Oh that my name were written there, 

Sure none could blot nor stain ; 
My joys as great as I could bear, 

Would not depart again. 

Oh truth, how powerful thou, and strong ! 

I 've known thy name alone, 
Thy words to turn me from the wrong, 

To seek my quiet home. 

Oh truth, my trav'ling feet prepare, 

Renew my heart or mind, 
And send fond hope to my despair, 

With mercies deep and kind. 

Let me again ride on her wings, 

That I thy kingdom see, 
Where saints adore and cherubs sing, 

Prepare a seat for me. 



April 15th, 1833. 

When e'er these shining rays descend, 
That's sparkling in the skies, 

The ways of fools will have an end, 
And wisdom's ways will rise. 



TRUTH ALONE. 

The Lord spreads out his hand to save, 

And Jacob's God is near; 
He '11 lead our footsteps to the grave, 

And blot away our fear. 

No stone is plac'd but he '11 remove, 

His builders are his own ; 
The fields and gardens he '11 improve, 

And find the building stone. 

Amidst the heart the lines are drawn, 

He '11 build his city there ; 
The mind of these that 's dead and gone, 

Hi3 priests and flocks shall wear. 



ArRiL 21st, 1833. 

From every hill we plainly see, 

The valleys deep below ; 
From the hill side the streamlets flee, 

And through deep valleys flow. 

'Tis their Creator calls them home ; 

My spirit run with these, 
Where the bright sun hath never shone, 

These know the Lord's decrees. 

No sun hath shone amidst the rocks, 
But there the streamlets hear ; 

God doth command to do his works, 
Where wisdom's ways appear. 

Shall sloth forbid my soul to run, 

Or keep me from his will? 
Unto the seas the rivers come, 

Their thirsting to fulfil. 

Jehovah calls my spirit home, 

As he fulfils the seas; 
I '11 tarry nor I '11 wait for none, 

His words are my decrees. 



105 



103 



IMPRESSIONS OF THE MIND. 



April 28th, 1833. 

Time her bright mantles doth unfold, 
She makes her windows bare ; 

She lets us see her sons of old 
Are -resting in her care. 

Her walls and pillars standing strong, 

She ages doth defy ; 
She sings salvation in her song, 

With all her kindred by. 

No brute can break her hedges down, 

Nor lions enter there ; 
Her head bears the eternal crown, 

That none but her can bear. 

Her garments white as falling snow, 

Her fields forever green, 
She brings salvation down below, 

And lets her sons be seen. 



May 1st, 1833. 
THE EFFECTS OF TROUBLE ON THE MIND. 

The mind of the youth groweth upward as the tender plant by 
the river side, with refreshing dews and morning suns ; but it groweth 
not up into rest or lasting joys, but to meet with sorrows prepared 
from the beginning of the world for us to bear. We have no thirst 
in our minds for trouble, yet trouble cometh ; it is a providential 
event, and not ours in the beginning. There has none been so 
righteous as to escape trouble, no not one ; but we increase sorrows 
that we might shun by thirsting for and practising unlawful joys — 
these are the sins of conviction. If the trouble that God giveth 
would convince the mind there are rivers of sorrow crossing the paths 
of life, it would be well for us ; but if a little will not do, God giveth 
more, rather than we should be lost through sinning against his name. 
He hath sent many servants into this world, reproving the deeds of 
sin, and chastizing rebellion against God. It maketh the life of any 
true servant of God sorrowful, when he considers it to be his lot and 
appointment to offend the self-conceited children of this life ; it may 
be his unreformed father or mother, his brother or his sister. He 
must stand against all that cometh in his way, either great or small, 



THIS EFFECTS OF TROUBLE ON THE MIND. 107 

^without respect to rank or station. The service of the Lord increases 
the sorrows of the soul, for the minds of the unreformed are preg- 
nant with many woes against them. I have not vet found a way to 
be reconciled to a sinning world, that is acting against the mind of a 
Deity, and making every succeeding generation more unhappy than 
they .vould otherwise be, if so many wilful and obstinate sins were 
not repeated. Now let us conclude the service, by saying that sorrow 
is needful to cenvince of sin ; then every servant of God, in whatever 
capacity he acts in a reformation, his own heart should be effectually 
troubled with the deeds of the transgressor, before he openeth his 
lips in reproof; a being angry with sinners is no qualification for 
service, but being sorrowful as the penitent is the just reward of sin, 
of which all the just servants of the Lord are made partakers before 
the transgression takes place, otherwise than this, they have no part 
in saving people from sin, or the soul from the effectual cause of trans- 
gression. I have no author to appeal to, save my soul within ; I have 
no priest to quote to, but the word of God in my soul, which I am 
struggling to reveal to the world ; I am truly a lonesome man, wishing 
that error should not be found in my ways : I may not be tried at 
court, nor by a band of learned and inexperienced ecclesiastics; but 
I shall be tried of God, and Providence will be for or against my 
days : I wish not to live an hour in vain, and I am restless when I 
am idle, as the servant without employ ; and I had rather do small 
things than nothing. 

The cause of sorrow is plain with me, whether it first cometh of 
God, or in the second place of ourselves. I am well acquainted with 
the effects of trouble, and read the following lesson from my soul ; 
there is a record there that never will be known, except the numer- 
ous lines that are there recorded are communicated 1o the world ; 
they may do for a witness hereafter, but not a guide. There is none 
but me alone in the space wherein I am in action. 

The mind is prepared to bear sorrow e'er it is given of the Spirit 
of God. As we receive that which we thirst not for, it is nearly or 
quite the first evidence that we receive that there is a providence 
ruling over us, giving us that of which we stand in need, though 
not desired, as what we thirst for and strive to obtain and accom- 
plish. Our desires we may attribute to ourselves, but trouble we 
thirst not for, yet trouble cometh, and this we must attribute to God. 
I wish to build my house or mansion of rest of the works of God 
rather than the deeds of men, for he is the master workman of all 
good, and the avenger of all evil. He nourishes the mind as the 
tender grass, and then touches the plant with disappointment, and 
then saith unto me, " soul, why didst thou mourn ?" I answer, O 
God ! thou required sorrow at my hands, and I am bound by fate to 
obey. I sorrow to fulfil thy decrees. Now I know there is a God ; 



108 IMPRESSIONS OF THE MIND. 

when I am thus far advanced into a knowledge of myself, shall I 
not fear to offend hirn that caused me to mourn without sin ? Light 
is that sorrow that is without guilt, that is only given for a lesson 
of instruction ; but oh, that woe that is to come for sin ! who can 
grant a release? who can make the burden light? 

I detest the flattery of men ; one justifying another, and one con- 
victing another, without experience in the cause. They are vain 
boasters — idle judges, that know not the way ; their feet are within 
a span of hell, and God is rising, and has already risen, against the 
false qualification of their days. They impose on the world, afflict 
the poor, and bear the orphan's bread away, and leave the widow to 
mourn without her due. How far are these from being the salvation 
of the world, that wounds the heart and leaves the mind to bleed, 
passing forward with the spoils of the poor. There is a recompence 
for us that are thus left ; neither shall our sighs be in vain, nor our 
groans depart from this world, till there is a change on earth which 
is now decreed in heaven. If we were left without sorrow, we 
would be like men at ease, and as sluggards do, dream our lives 
away, and have nothing to hope for in the end. Trouble breaks up 
my youthful and unsought rest, awakes mine eyes from a dreaming 
position, and inspires me to look round in the world for a cause of 
these things, and to read the heart (the book of life,) and see what 
is recorded there. A sleeping man cannot read, neither can a man 
travel with his eyes shut. For what end descended the cheering 
dews and morning suns? to strengthen me for a time, which, 
unknown to me, was appointed to come. Now I begin to behold the 
deeds of a wise builder, and trace the lines of a Creator's hand in the 
mind. Now I begin to know something without thanking the Rabbies, 
or giving praise to vessels of clay. I begin now to love the Lord 
above others ; he hath shown me more, and is worthy of esteem. 
I bggin to call on him for more till I am informed of all things that 
peilain to the peace of the mind. This is the effect of trouble, 
without which no man is wise concerning his own salvation ; neither 
can he be a light unto others, except he goeth before them in the 
way. The mind of the laborious man must advance forward and 
see what is in the way of his rising offspring, and then tell them 
of such things as they can bear, and then be sure never to fail in 
his counsels ; for instance, one class-leader, or the minister of any- 
sectarian plan, will justify the subjects of his own creed, when at 
the same time I might be twice as good a man, and be a member of 
my neighbour's congregation ; at the same period of time I would 
not have half the esteem from my brother sectarian as though I 
belonged to his particular lines of order. Think ye that the minister, 
or that poor soul of a counsellor, went forward on the way? nay : 
I tell you of a certainty he is towed along by men ; as the brute by 



THE EARTH IS FULL OF THE WONDERS OF THE LORD. 109 

the halter, so he followeth the line that is in the hand of the priest. 
What but trouble will enable us to break or part the cord? This 
alone will awake our eyes, inspire to industry and our own vigilence 
in the hand of God, work our salvation. 

When worlds uncommon and unknown, 

And suns of light appear; 
When grace descends that never shone, 

Then is salvation near. 

Wisdom doth spread her hands abroad, 

The works of God to show ; 
Her deeds reveal the will of God 

To worlds unseen below. 

Dark are the mansions of the mind, 

Till wisdom's ways are seen ; 
We know not where the soul to find, 

Nor where the spirit 's been. 

But wisdom lights us to the tomb, 

To see the spirits there ; 
Or bids our hearts to feel the doom 

Of these that 's in despair. 

She calls her subjects to the grave, 

And bids their spirits mourn ; 
To see their friends where none can save, 

Nor ever shall return. 



May 3rd, 1833. 
THE EARTH IS FULL OF THE WONDERS OF THE LORD. 

We cannot discern the blessings of God, except he assist our 
spirits to see his providential aid and care over us. If the mind run 
without an early conviction, where would we land at last ? It is 
impossible with God to approbate sin, and is inconsistent with himself 
or his divine nature, that formed the whole earth by his word. His 
blessings are as diamonds in this world, if we could see them ; but 
this privilege we must buy at a price ; we must fulfil his divine law 
and reap the advantage of so doing. It takes a man all his days to 
come to a knowledge of himself, (even if life is well fulfilled,) which 
is coming to the knowledge of God, for man is the work of God, and 
by his deeds he is to be known. I imagine if I should gaze into 






110 IMPRESSIONS OF THE MIND. 

the skies all the days of my life I should not see a spirit ; but if I see 
a machine in operation it attracts my attention to seek after the cause 
till I know the power of operation by which it moves to the 
advantage of men. If I see a man doing good, and making or 
endeavouring to make the world or a part of it happy, it leads me to 
enquire how he obtained the talent that set him to work in such 
effectual operations. I am not satisfied with seeing, any more than 
I would be to sit down with a companion at supper — and then see 
him sweep the whole board to fill his own stomach. The ancients 
have seen, and I wish to see ; they have known, and I pray to know 
— they have done, and I want to be doing. I see none so glorious 
as the servants of God. I wish to go to the school where the 
scholars learn this service, they beat historians, for they tell us of 
God whom we cannot see, nor know except we do his will. I wish 
I could read in it daily. I wish these lines were the law of my heart. 
God writes so intelligently no where as in the mind, but it is as a desk 
closed up ; and that which man reveals to man is despised by our 
humanity, and we are not possessed of enough discernment by nature 
to discern a diamond from the most rough and uncultivated stone in 
the world. Nothing is more needful than to first know we are frail. 
We will never call on a physician, till we are sick, or on the Lord 
till we are disappointed in our own nature and disposition of mind. 
Is it not an evidence that we are frail, while we see the servants of 
the Lord double talented, when we can do nothing ? Come a little 
nearer the subject, my friends, I invite you. 

The cultivator taketh his little sons early to the field with him, ta 
show them how business is done ; he directs their hands to the sickle 
and bids them try ; he corrects their error with patience, delighted 
with the little they can do ; he is cheered with the hope that by and 
by they will do more, and grow up to men, and serve the Lord in 
the vineyard of his service, in which the soul hath great delight. 
Can it be found that one man hath repented in serving the Lord ? 
If it cannot, thousands may be found that hath repented serving their 
own imagination, and living without law. Are not these the wonders 
of the Lord, that a man should turn from serving himself to serve 
another, and forbid his own soul's desires, to receive a law from the 
hands of God? Historians dispute about this way, but these that 
have entered into the house knoweth the door,* and none can blind 
their eyes ; all contentions are in the outer court of the Lord's house. 
He that hath entered into his own mind, hath received another 
world to improve, and is scarcely brother or kindred to him that 
remains without in the world, where darkness reigns and long 
disputes abound. Is it not wonderful that a man can see the works 
of God in his own spirit ? This is the city from whence cometh 
sacred writings, and the Spirit of the Lord is there. It is 



THE TRAVELS OF THE SOUL. Ill 

through deeds wrought by faith that we enter the extensive 
mansion, which is the house of God, the dwelling of the saints, the 
throne of the prophets and apostles— these are one, they saw together 
and performed alike, and are all bretheren of the mind. If 1 could 
follow the track of one of these, it would lead me to the sacred 
mansion. I should see and know the whole of them in deeds in this 
world ; and as I could do I would share my part at supper with them. 
I have found these things in my mind, and the Spirit saith unto me 
write, for no robe below the Sun hath placed me here. 

While I can sing, my song shall be 
Hallelujahs, Lord, to thee ; 
And when I ask, or when I pray, 
I '11 cry for these that 's fled away. 



May 4th, 1833. 

THE TRAVELS OF THE SOUL. 

To go where reason cannot reach, 
We 're blind to see and dumb to teach ; 
We own the soul must have a guide, 
By whom her wants are all supplied. 

From whence the soul cometh, or whether it goeth, is hard to telL 
Historians say of God : can we not come to a knowledge ourselves, 
as certain as they can reveal without making them liars, or ourselves 
untrue 1 We acknowledge there is a spirit unbounded and incom- 
prehensible ; this we acknowledge by the operations of power on the 
soul, which is in every living thing that breathes the breath of life. 
We own the soul or mind must be a spirit, for there is a communi- 
cation of spirits with the mind, which is the soul of every creature. 
Reason teaches me without the assistance of any historian, that one 
great spirit governs the whole created system. If this is not God, I 
am deceived, and trust in vain things. I believe the mind to be a 
part of the deity, for every living thing is governed by the mind, in 
earth, air, or sea, — and these three contain the whole creation. 
As for the habitation of God, I believe it to be in the mind of the 
living, and not with the dead bodies in the tomb. Every mind has 
a governor let the faculties be extensive or limited. There is none 
of them can get beyond their bounds, any more than we can wander 
beyond the bounds of the earth. Our thoughts can wander from 
whence they can bring no intelligence to the mind but supposition 



112 IMPRESSIONS OF THE MIND. 

and imagination. These are empty systems to teach to men, if they 
may be called systems ; many buildings are erected upon them 
however ; some ascending the air, and some descending into the sea, 
or the heart of the earth. Such thoughts as these serve to vex the 
spirit, and leave all the imaginary worlds in uncertainty at last, I 
believe the bounds of human reason to be the limits of the soul ; all 
things farther proves vanity and smoke. As the plant groweth our 
reason may be extended and bear much fruit. The heart of a child 
will admit of improvement, and the mind of a man, of cultivation all 
the days of his life. 

When the field has once bore, it is not done ; when we have done 
one thing, life is not done ; but some have ignorantly made it their 
choice to rest in the stall with the brute. Our minds and necessities 
are made equal, we are made to desire what we can obtain, and to 
be satisfied when the soul or mind is full. A brute is content with 
the product of the earth, but this will not satisfy the mind of a man. 
Our minds are made to dread the end of life, of which the brute 
seems to rest contented till the moment of his death. Here is a 
distinction in the mind worthy of note, and here I shall leave the 
animal creation, and mark the travels of the mind of the human 
family, who are more destitute of rest than any other part of the 
creation, and more afflicted with disease, which operates, affecting 
the mind with sorrow, for our infirmities of the bodily kind are 
footsteps to the end, — 

The dreadful end 

That maketh all afraid ; 
And him from whence beginning came 

Likewise the end hath made. 

Has God caused us to hunger for nothing ? If we can consistently 
so believe — we must conclude the human system is out of order, and 
man is made in vain. It is consistent with my reason which is my 
understanding of human and divine sense, that there is a store or 
treasure to hope for. Will not the infant cry for the mother's breast 
before he hath any sense that joy is there ? So we thirst for what we 
need, and when God giveth we cease our crying. The soul is not 
evil in itself, but is given in a capacity to seek a Creator, or deliver- 
ance from these objects that cause woe and want. If a man was 
made completely happy he would be completely idle, and less 
sensible than the brute that seeketh his own diet. Mourning is as 
natural to the soul as the water to descend, and joy is like unto it, 
and there are appointed times for these operations to convince the 
man who he is, and of what he stands in need. He giveth way in 
temptation, whenever our keeper slackens his hand, his redeemer 
meets him in sorrow, and communicates unto him the cause of his 






THE TRAVELS OF THE SOUL. 113 

complaint — his footsteps downward, and how he may arise. Here 
man finds himself alone the offspring of God, but incapable of 
direction. He weeps to embrace something he has not known ; it 
is not a fruitful field — this would not wash the stain away. In truth 
he wants a parent's hand ; but he knew it not, till he fell into the 
pit, but then he wept, then his soul was set in order to commune 
with God When the weakened and bewildered mind confesses 
infirmity — and the want of a staff to lean upon, which is compared 
to bread from Heaven, a stronger than we are unbinds the chains 
and sets us free. This is gaining sense for ourselves, that there is 
a deity, and increases our understanding. The soul hath borne 
fruit once, but is not done, nor entered into the kingdom of God — 
but is only baptized and fitted for another trial. So God communi- 
cates himself to the mind by power : and I know not that I shall 
find the city hoped for all my life long. Nevertheless I am not 
discouraged on the journey— I am fully paid for what I have earned 
and my soul is not yet full, but hopes for more, — Is there no supply 
for my thirst? Truly as I have received a little there is more, and I 
will travel while I thirst. Shall I believe I thirst in vain? No, who 
hath planted such an inconsistent plant, wanting dew and rain, and 
there is none to come — truly not a consistant God. If we come 
short of our hope and our expectation is made vain, we hope for vain 
things and these are the productions of imagination, the wandering 
of the thought beyond bounds, and is not the offspring of faith. The 
productions of faith are to labour for these things in which we have 
hope. If a man wished to find a piece of gold in the bottom of the 
sea, how would he labour to accomplish it? If he wished to ascend 
above the moon, where would he get his ladder? These are the 
just comparisons of the imagination of the thought. But if he wished 
to find an inheritance with God, the way is open. 

The mind is a part of God's spirit, given to this human frame, 
and as the streamlets and rivers never rest short of the bosom of 
the sea — where the whole family of springs and rivers unite ; so 
the travelling mind cannot rest short of the bosom of God. A man's 
mind is ever from home till he returns to the father or fountain of 
spirits, and this is the place of his appointed rest. 

The way is clear, let us proceed, 
For all our footsteps are decreed ; 
But if our thoughts these lines despise, 
There 's death and hell before our eyes. 

The tomb looks frightful as the night, 
We tremble when the grave 's in sight ; 
Affrighted man, O tell me why 
Thy soul is not prepared to die ? 

H 



114 IMPRESSIONS OF THE MIND. 

Hast thou been idle or astray? 
Or did thy thoughts pervert the way? 
Get ready now — the time is short, 
Thy dwelling's in the outer court. 

Come in, the keeper's at the door, 
The fountain 's clear, and bread in store ; 
Behold the living system move, 
See God is jealous of thy love. 

His word be thy chief corner stone ; 
There build thy house for God alone, 
And God will come and dwell with thee r 
Whoe'er thou art or mayest be. 



May 13th, 1833. 



Oh truth and mercy be my guide, 

For these like twins agree; 
These all my faults and failings hide, 

And shone like suns to me. 

These bore good Abram o'er the plain, 

When he walk'd to and fro; 
Oh angels bright return again, 

Shine on this world below. 

When sun nor moon shall shine no more, 

When land nor sea prevail, 
Then truth and mercy I '11 adore, 

For these can never fail. 

Companions of my lonesome breast, 

Whene'er I walk abroad, 
These lead my spirit home to rest, 

And make my peace with God. 



t 115 ] 



May 28th, 1833. 



WISDOM'S WAYS. 



Wisdom's ways are as many paths leading to a fountain of living 
water, where the weary drink and are at rest. They are as gates 
to a hidden treasure which when the soul findeth she seeks no more. 
They are as pillars that never move in a storm. The fountain never 
dries, neither is the treasure exhausted ; she has no end. Few find 
the gates of wisdom ; haste leads us by the port, and except we return 
we miss the appointed way forever. The things of God or the work- 
manship of his hands delights the mind at the first appearance, and 
like as many children gathering flowers, we run after them ; and as 
the beauty of the rose declines in the hand of a child through using, 
so doth all our stolen joys decay. 

There is a way to a substantial blessing through the laws of the 
Lord. These are the ways of wisdom. The heart of man is a table 
for God to write upon ; the laws of Moses and the life of Aaron were 
written there. 

I am not under a necessity in this moment to borrow of these 
patriarchs. I have a heart also given me of God, and he hath writ- 
ten thereon, and from thence I draw these lines ; and I can believe 
in no other way of communication between God and man, for no 
other way to me is given. Proof is needful where the case is doubt- 
ful ; but wisdom's ways can stand alone, for truth is the direction of 
wisdom and bears up the mind. 

God is truth. He bringeth forth both the flower and the fruit ; 
but if we pluck the flower from the bearing tree as the rose from the 
brier, the fruit is lost : so we run too hastily into the joys of life, and 
the mind only smells the flower, that might taste the fruit. The 
flower is an evidence that the tree will bear; but if we destroy the 
bud, the leaf never will be seen : so are these that gather joys in the 
childhood of the mind. 

A man may live till he is grey-headed, and for want of experience 
be useless in the world. He may be led on by something that flat- 
ters him, that the real joys of life are on the next hill he shall ascend ; 
but when he arrives at the expected haven of his joys, they are fled 
like the blossom blown from the tree and no fruit appears, for some 
other one hath gathered them that ascended the hill before him. So 
men hath run from the foundation of the world, rather abusing the 
creation than cultivating it ; and though I may be alone in my opin- 
ion, I am resolved on speaking freely on the subject — the salvation 
of men. The view of the world is the first knowledge of God. 
We see the garments, but are not yet acquainted with the contents 
h 2 



116 IMPRESSIONS OF THE MIND. 

of them. It is right to be delighted with the things of God, and hope 
(as the flower should flatter us) that we shall enjoy by and by. This 
is an enjoyment of itself, and by receiving this confidence we actually 
enjoy things to come ; and this is the proper use to make of the 
things of time. Our father in Eden gathered too soon. This mark 
Moses has given to unthoughtful travellers through tune. He has 
given this to assist the mind, and to make the way more plain to 
a lost world. If we have missed the gates, we must return again. 
They are not before us, we have passed them by; and by running 
headlong or pursuing the thought delighted with a flower, they never 
will be found. A man and his garments may be separated, and so 
may God and his works. Many there are that possess that they do 
not enjoy. Can there be any other reason given than this, — they 
have eaten that which is forbidden, or put forth their hands too young 
to gather in the things of God. 

As the heart like a store-house filled with odd combustibles, so is 
the mind unprepared to enjoy the things of time ; it is filled up with 
the idle follies of youthful life, and these may continue till old age, 
and do, where we see a man idle in the deeds of salvation to accom- 
plish the mind. Every man should set his house in order before he 
invites the guest, lest they should enter his doors and gates before 
his entertainment is prepared. He has invited the things of God to 
his house or home before he is prepared to receive them : so is many 
a wife with the husband, and child with the parent. They do not 
afford their expected joys ; the guest is dissatisfied for want of enter- 
tainment, and so the world seems to mourn forever, or from the 
beginning till this day. 

I am minded to give up all things that ever I have enjoyed, as a 
garment, and appear naked before the Lord, as a child is born into 
the world; for I am tired of living on stolen bread. I am now writ- 
ing lines of experience. No person can be poorer in spirit than I 
am, nor any weep louder for the truth or the paths of wisdom to direct 
my feet ; but it is the pleasure of God to leave me here till I write 
these lines : and then I shall see a release from these bonds. 

The things of time are delusive and persuasive, and the law of the 
Lord only can stand against them ; they are stronger than the mind, 
and overcome the man. Him that trusts alone in his own heart will 
be overcome by them ; he will miss the gates of wisdom, the paths 
that lead to the fountain of the hidden treasure, and enjoy nothing 
but the flower all the days of his life. The question is, how are 
these gates to be found, the water tasted, or the fruit known 1 Where 
doth the treasure lie 1 He that wishes to acquaint himself with the 
world need not travel over it, it is at home in his own soul ; the spirit 
of the world is there that destroys life and deforms the man : and if 
he should travel from one pole to the other, or from the east to the 



WISDOM'9 WAYS. 11.7 

western hills, he would not know the world, till he could measure the 
spirit of it in his own mind. God hath written a law in the heart from 
the foundations of the world ; the first man was not without it, nor 
the last. He is not a partial God, he doeth by all alike, he hath not 
respect to the persons of men ; — here lies the error, (and one day the 
remedy will be applied.) Man leaves J,his law unread till late in life, 
and rather keeps it as a book in a desk or book- case all the days of 
his life, into which he has never sought to know the deeds of 
salvation, or to find peace to the mind ; but hath run after the more 
visible part of the world, and missed the gates of wisdom, or passed 
by the ports of lasting joys, and is ever wandering for his rest. 

" The garment is not the man ; a man can depart from his own 
clothes, and so can the blessing of God from his works. We want 
to enjoy with a blessing, and then all is well with us ; so Moses tells 
us they were made, first formed, and then blessed. But again he 
repeats, in sin they were cursed ; and sin is the cause of the blasting 
of the fruit, the blinding of the eyes, the missing of the gates, of 
seeking treasure in vain, of thirsting forevermore. Now we must 
come to the knowledge of what sin is. It is, in the first place, a 
neglect of the Divine law, after our abilities have grown strong 
enough to contemplate upon the things of God, or the deeds of crea- 
tion. Until this day we cannot sin, or be guilty of actually trans- 
gressing the will of the Lord ; but if he hath stored my heart with 
a law, as a desk or book-case, I can and should look therein to see 
what God has given to me, for every man (if he knew himself) is 
independent of another, and hath his own law ; but if like an idle 
drone, I never search my desk or never walk in my garden, or 
acquaint myself with my own mind, I run after the heels of another 
all the days of my life, till he falls into the pit or grave, and I am no 
nearer my journey's end on that day than when I was a child and 
first began. So I may be delighted with trees, vales, gardens, and 
rivers, and with different species of the creation, till I lose the pur- 
pose of mine own appointment, and go ignorantly down to the grave 
not knowing the purpose for which I was made, and altogether lose 
the salvation of the soul. 

Every parent should take his child with him to the school of reflec- 
tion, and teach him that these outward observations are only the gar- 
ments of the Lord. He is to be known within, and is a spirit in the 
mind, that will commune with us, if we will seek for him as foi a lost 
piece of silver, or as the thirsty seek the fountain. He will be eyes 
to the mind, a treasure to us in life. He hath hid himself from the 
human eye, and yet he may be found. He that desires to know the 
world must enquire at the gates of a Creator, and he will gain a cer- 
tain intelligence of all things needful to set the mind at rest. There 
is no mystery that we thirst for through a righteous prayer but God 
h3 



118 IMPRESSIONS OF THE MIND. 

will reveal to us ; he will satisfy our hunger and quench our thirst, 
and the laws of life are written in the soul, and we are sorrowful, 
because we do not or will not read them. Our thoughts are persua- 
ded by a fading flower to run after it ; but by long trial men will grow 
wise. I think I have gained something for turning from the whole 
human family, trusting in God and reading the law of the heart. 
The Lord promised it should there be written ; the prophet told me 
so. I would sooner believe him than all the world of men beside 
him, for he had a communion with the Lord, and 1 know that he told 
the truth ; but those that do not try his word do not know these 
things, and like fools they run and miss the way, telling their brethren 
it is a troubled world, and there is no peace in it. The saying is 
true, but there is peace in a man's own heart, for it is the house of 
God and his laws ; and I am resolved forever to read in them, and 
things that should be written give unto the world, and that which is 
mine retain unto myself, for it is that which the Lord hath given. 

It took me many years to prepare the house for things that I de- 
sired, but now they have come. I wrought by the will of the Lord 
and made my heart ready, and the things I communicate to the world 
hath come into me, for they were not there from the beginning. 

How gloriously to God I '11 sing, 

And keep my harp in tune ; 
My soul drinks of a living spring, 

With flowers of sweet perfume. 

My hand's forbid to touch the rose, 

But see the garden grow ; 
The chrystal fountain overflows, 

The gates I've passed through. 

These, these are joys that never end, 

But. yield a great supply ; 
For here we drink nor doth oftend, 

Though thousands pass us by. 

The whole creation here adores, 

And every plant is bless'd ; 
For here we find the hidden stores, 

The pleasures of the bless'd. 

We find the Lord that all things knows, 

(A part of man within,) 
And thus the fountain overflows, 

And thus our joys begin. 



CHAPTER I. 119 



Deluded man from hill to hill, 
From age to age hath sought ; 

He sought a guest his house to fill, 
And spent his days for nought. 

The tomb's his lot and portion here, 

And this he 's sure to find, 
He 's liv'd in hope and died in fear, 

And hath a troubled mind. 

Oh shun such paths my friends as this, 

There is a wiser way, 
And shun the bait by which we miss, 

And enter in this day. 

Wisdom stands at our gates to cry, 
Why should she not be healed? 

With her sweet counsels all comply; 
Her heart's a fruitful field. 



May 28th, 1833. 
CHAPTER I. 

I am not aware that it is a hard thing to show the heart to the 
world, because it is a country that cannot be seen, or as the fountain 
of deep waters, but I will begin this twenty-eight day of May, one 
thousand eight hundred and thirty-three (from the birth of a Christian 
Messiah whose life we trust to be the evidence of the truth) and if I 
can get through in the time of my life I trust my salvation will be 
accomplished, for I am induced to believe that God requires this 
history at my hands. A historian can give an acconnt of a nation 
or country we never saw, why may not religious men reveal the 
things of God? The contents of the mind to them that never saw 
them ? If a country affords an encouraging history, we will some 
times haste to remove there to better our condition of life, why not 
speak of the fertility of the mind, and induce some wandering souls 
that are seeking for a residence of rest, to leave this world and its 
common course, and inherit the mind, improve it as a new country, 
and enter into rest, enjoy the fruit of our labour and be at peace ; 
for this is where God hath ordained praise, and where he will satisfy 
the soul in itself, for a man is a kingdom of his own and he needeth 
not be as an alien in a far country, and a servant of men. 

I commence in short chapters — and as God giveth to me, my 
intentions are to give to the world. 



120 IMPRESSIONS OF THE MIND. 

Our first comparison is, the mind is as still water when at rest, but 
when we are born into this world we have many beaiing storms to 
to endure. A child has rest in the cradle, but it is not permanent, 
but like the rest of our father, Adam; for a short space ere life grows 
worse, the infant's wants are small, that can be comforted at the 
mother's breast, or rest upon a sleeping pillow ; but alas ! our days 
are few in this capacity of life, time passes like a wintery day, till 
we seem to open our eyes in a world of necessities and woes ; for 
deep sorrows abound on earth : the creation is wanting that which 
they cannot obtain, and him that hath received much of it is in the 
same capacity as when he began. He will compare with a man, 
walking up the hill all the day, and sliding down at night: and in 
the morning he sets out again on the hopeless journey, and so 
worldly minded man spends his days, and goeth down to the grave 
unaccomplished, and hath left this example for bread for his children 
to feed upon, the very crumbs that made their parent miserable, all 
the days of his life, and to go both wanting and reluctantly down to 
the grave ; because his designs or desires were not accomplished. 
Can any human being believe that this man or mind ever knew 
where peace was to be found, or where the soul hath rest in store 
for her on the dying day? As the instrument is in the hand of the 
cultivator, so are our limbs in possession of the soul or mind. But 
where the inside of a man is out of order, his bodily services cannot 
be right, his mind pursues vain things, and he toils for nothing ; 
and though he should possess a nation or a kingdom here, he goes 
like the most starving beggar down to the grave : his worldly songs 
turn into mourning, the flower blasts, and like a fool he dies ; he has 
won nothing — he hath left his inheritance to another, and children of 
his own mind, superficially enjoy his goods. These are the evidences 
of an ill spent life. We are all prone to these paths of error; but one 
stronger than ourselves hath made it possible to deny the invitation 
that leads us this way, and hath promised a reward we can take with 
os when we die, and none can be heir of it but the soul who bought 
the same at the hand of God at the price of sacrificing the human 
will. My desires are well sold if I can purchase everlasting peace 
at the sales of them. 

I shall now leave the common paths of life, and walk alone through 
this short travel or account committed to my trust. Fear hath a 
dreadful effect on the inexperienced mind ; but experience and the 
favours of God can wear out fear as a garment. I am bounded by 
the things I know, I do not wish to be understood that I am not in 
fear to sin, or miss my way ; but that fear I wish to reveal, is this — I 
am not afraid of receiving the event of an ill spent life ; the latter 
produces groans at death that are hard to be uttered. Death with 
all his terrors hath stared me in the face. I believe the Lord 



CHAPTER I. Iff 

brought him to my gates to try my soul, and to give me a confirma- 
tion by the same proof that I was ready for his arrows, and then he 
departed from me, and though it is many years pasl, he hath not 
returned. I have continued in the same line and trust my appoint- 
ment is sure if I fail not in my integrity to God, and continue to walk 
in the direction of his holy Spirit ; for this hath been all the education 
that 1 have received concerning a religious life. I find this law to 
be safe, and my feet to stand where they have not slidden. What- 
ever I have gained I have kept, and still intend ascending the hill, 
and marking the way as I pass forward to the habitation from 
whence I came, (the spirit of God.) There are many sliding in this 
age of life, and never was it more needful that a sure path be known, 
and truth nakedly revealed to the world. The Lord hath chosen 
me, I had not chosen him, my choice was as the choice of other men, 
that is, to heap up a little sand hill in the world : but he spoke loudly 
to me through fear, and bid me dread the end. I am now giving 
true intelligence from the mind, he terrified me with hell and the 
grave, and I awoke as one from sleep, and saw my soul on the 
precipice of everlasting ruin, from whence I knew there was no re- 
turn, and those that write that the end of the wicked and the righte- 
ous are alike, I am confident are in error ; for I have measurably seen 
the end of both and have been advanced in these prospects as far as 
any living man can go and remain in the body, and there will be no 
deeper history than mine — and God will give it to the world with a 
blessing. I am astonished at his goodness, and the measures of his 
spirit he poured out on my soul, for renouncing my worldly desires 
and running after him. I was as the dumb that knew nothing, — a$ 
the blind that saw not the way ; but for all my needful wants he hath 
provided, and still invites me forward to come to the banqueting 
house of the Lord, which is the mind, for there he feeds his people* 

My praise arises from a cause, 

And from a heart unknown ; 
I read the table of his laws, 

And see the building stone. 

5 Tis God's delight to frame the mind, 

On pillars sure and strong, 
As worlds are built and seas are lin'd, 

So I begin my song. 

The mind was dark and waters flowed, 

O'er all that was within, 
But God these distant regions knew, 

And bid the worlds begin. 



122 IMPRESSIONS OF THE MIND. 

A light amidst my bosom rose, 
No tongue nor pen can tell, 

How this discovered all my foes, 
And showed me death and hell. 



May 29th, 1833. 

Oh that my days were fully spent, 

And I had peace in store ; 
How could I covet long to live, 

What could I covet more. 

We find deep sorrows in the earth, 
And woes and wants abound ; 

'T is hard to find the paths of peace, 
Uncertain when they 're found. 

How can we make our calling sure, 

Or the great purpose find ? 
'T will tell us why we 're placed here, 

Or what afflicts the mind. 

There is a God to cloud our days, 

And hide a glooming sun ; 
A God to make the wisest mourn, — 

And thus his will is done. 



June 2nd, 1833. 

Oh God, how merciful and kind 
Are all thy statutes and decrees ; 

Thou heals the heart and stays the mind, 
'T is thou that doth such deeds as these. 

Thou calls us to a world of joy, 
The wise with gladness doth obey, 

But fools their bread and cup destroy, 
And throw their living souls away. 

The way is plain, the path is clear, 
And upright men can walk therein ; 

And these unclothe their souls from fear, 
And soon their joys of life begin. 

The more they taste they love the more, 
The more they drink the more they thirst; 

They 're not contented with their store, 
Until the soul is fully bless'd. 



CHAPTER I. 123 

June 5th, 1833. 



Every thing that our eyes behold clothes the mind, and all we 
hear affects the heart within us. No maiden changes her mantle 
as ofteu as the mind ; she puts off her wedding garment of joys, 
she clothes herself in the solitary place with habits of mourning, 
she walketh the pensive plain and strews her tears alone ; she never 
rests, she is thirsting for her God as the weary for fountains of living 
water, are a heaven of rest. I can account to the world for no 
mind but mine own. The bounds of my soul are the limits of my 
days, and worlds beyond these are to me unknown. There is 
nothing created that doth not affect the mind — the least insect we 
can see affects the mind. The sun in the firmament, the greatest 
object of our attention, has the same affect. Nothing is more certain 
than this, that the whole creation has part in the mind, for it is a 
mansion or receptacle to all we see and hear; it is a table of the 
memory of the just, and receives what is present : it is enlarged by 
knowledge and improved by science, but accomplished by the 
builder of the mind. The mind hath as many parts in it as there 
are in the creation, and the centre of it we wish to find. My small 
history will end there ; there will my pen and thoughts be stayed, 
my hand will be bound as with an iron chain, mine eyes shall behold 
no more, neither shall my ears hear. There I shall find the Lord 
if he is ever known of me, there I shall see the saints at rest ; there 
I shall hear the last song that ever shall be sung, and the solemn 
harp of everlasting praise. There is another possesses me, my soul 
is not free, she is as Lord over nothing beneath the sun ; she is 
capable of impression, she can receive, but nothing can she give to 
another. God is Lord over every mind, and opens or closes up the 
doors of the heart. He is the keeper of every soul. If we drink 
in bitter waters, he casts them out again ; if we sin, he puts our sins 
away : he will not dwell in peace with sin, no more than we will 
with disputing inhabitants of our own house. 

My soul is the Lord's, my heart is at his command my limbs'obey 
his call, and step forward after him ; and whither would I go? the 
earth may enquire. I would reach the centre of my soul and see 
every propensity of the mind at rest with God, and this is with me a 
world to come. Sin is an alienation of our faculties from the centre 
of the mind, the table of the heart, and these sinning propensities of 
ours, are like as many wandering restless strangers having no place 
of abode — their home is conviction — and they are ever travelling 
out of it — and find no end, for hell is without bounds to the sinner, 
but him that returns sees a release. 

We increase our joys by righteousness, but the mind is not full 
while more can be obtained, and this is the thirst of the righteous to 



124 IMPRESSIONS OF THE MIND. 

reach that they do not yet enjoy ; they thirst, because the mind is 
not full, and travel, because they are strong to improve. Hope is 
one of the great talents of the mind ; but hope itself cannot exist 
without a support. Faith is a property the most hard to keep in our 
possession of any of the abilities of the man. The absence of which 
convinces us of the supreme abilities of a God ; and when hope 
faints we slacken our step, — the soul mourns — despair taketh her in 
her arms, and presses her to her breast, and bids her drink of her 
cold and hopless diet, that banishes hope from the soul. And the 
renewal of the mind is as wonderful to me as the creation of the 
world, and is the only convincing proof that there is a God, to be 
hoped for and to be enjoyed. 



The builder now may cheerly sing, 

The pillars all are laid, 
And shaded by an angel's wing, 

By whom the worlds were made. 

God is the angel unto me, 

The saint whom I adore, 
By him my faith doth come and flee, 

He doth my hope restore. 

Year unto year he's added on, 

Both youthful time and age, 
With me are these that 's dead and gone, 

My sorrows to asuage. 

Oh these I find a hopeful band, 

With these my book I find, 
Unknown to builders on the sand, 

Tis these that form my mind. 

Tis these that Heaven above compose, 
And God 's the monarch there ; 

He led them through a world of woes, 
Rejoicing — and despair. 

These found the centre, home at last, 

And measured my decrees, 
And when my mournful days are past, 

My home will be with these. 



[ 125 ] 

June 7th, 1833. 
CHAPTER II. 

There are no clouds so dark as these that clothe the mind. Gold 
may be lost in obscurity, but almost every person can form some 
conjecture where to look for a lost material, but no man under 
heaven knoweth a direction where to find the innocency and sim- 
plicity of past life, that is, our younger years of time. Our sins 
increase with our abilities, but our innocency decays, till we become 
crafty, cunning and wise in our own imagination. Then are we 
clouded with obscurity, who can rend the veil? Darkness is sepera- 
ble or the sun hath never risen. These that are in darkness may 
see light, or there is no salvation for the mind. Let us say God 
reveals, and we can receive, and in this way only the lost prize is 
found. I have travelled in many paths, but have never turned 
backward — each path or hour of experience hath led me to discover 
something. And I am minded to make a few notes of singular 
experience. Scriptures and records are but witnesses of the truth 
that is to be known and tasted of, it is as diet to the soul, clothing to 
the spirit, and the ways of life. The soul is acquainted with events, 
the mind is a spirit on which the event of sin and righteousness is 
visible. The wages of sin, are an invitation to a change of practice. 
If our mind is not out of order it will loudly judge for us, and 
strengthen the tongue to speak the truth. Eyes and ears are but 
the organs of the mind, of themselves they can do nothing. It is 
the mind that employs them to hear and speak, they are as servants 
sent abroad to bring home intelligence to the mind. The mind is 
not small, otherwise as a vessel it would become full. But not a 
little hearing and seeing fills the mind, and now we have an evidence 
of its almost unbounded extent, it will contain a history of all nations 
kingdoms and countries, language and science. It will not contain 
a deity only by parts, but there is nothing created so extensive as 
the mind and as it is unknown, uncomprehended, and to us unbound- 
ed, we are almost or quite forced to believe it is a limb of the deity, 
and came out from God, and is our intelligencer from heaven above 
and hell below. That which is not known in the mind, we never 
know. It contains a large space for joy, and a limited space of 
misery, — sorrows may have an end but the joys for well doing are 
forever. I believe no more in the death of the spirit of the righteous 
than I do that the deity will have an end — or ever had a beginning. 
Who hath exhausted his store by drawing wisdom from his friendly 
bosom ? Who hath broken into his store and stolen goods away ? 
Sectarians apprehend they have received a great share — but after 



126 IMPRESSIONS OF THE MIND* 

all this, I find for my latter days, things that never were revealed, 
and deeds that were never brought to light, — a way unmarked by 
the feet of men, neither is the blood of the prophets there. 

The rewards of wickedness is my way — it is darker than the dungeon 
— the night will not compare with it, the angels of God cannot rest 
there, neither is there sleep to the eyelids of a weary soul, neither 
fowls nor brute is in this way — worm nor insect, it is the space of 
man alone. Acquaintance cannot comfort, and these that are gone 
are hid from our eyes. This is the space where the sun first arose 
from deep waters here. God begins to do his work alone — man is 
the witness, and thus Moses wrote of the creation of God. Thus is 
a renewal of the mind — this is where the lost is found — how can I be 
to blame to write the way ? 

Oh my mis'ry unexpres't, 
Free from light and free from rest, 
Where no sound of joy is heard, 
Where no angel hath appeared, 
Where no brute a burden bore, 
Where no human minds adore, 
Where no glass is given to see, 
Where we 're neither bound nor free, 
Where we know no foe nor Lord, 
Where we feel no chain nor cord, 
Where all past has fled away, 
And nought remains but memory. 

Hell is heard of, but death is known — it obscures the soul, spirit 
or mind, beyond the regions of all light spiritual or temporal. This 
is where all proves vain but a deity : the help of man is unseen, and 
the joys of creation are as vain to touch the feelings of the soul, as 
ardent spirits would be to intoxicate the dead. Here I begin my 
history, what is writen is but an introduction to the path downward, 
There are very few that are willing to travel the downward way, it 
is common to possess a disposition tc rise ; and too many unskilfully 
practice, and fall again. Deep wells the most seldom go dry, but 
the shallow spring giveth way in the drought. 

Those that hath endured persecution, remain to shine as the stars 
in Heaven. An active man must have his feet well placed. Many 
get into office that cannot stay — the disease is in the mind — the foe 
in the world, but the cure is in Heaven, with God. It is the 
pleasure of God only that quickens a mind that is far astray. It is 
the most peculiar wisdom of the wise to hearken to his parental ad- 
monitions, for these are life to the soul— and the dead rise by them. 
There are many obstructions in the way of our rise ; in which case, 



CHAPTER II. 



127 



We have a continual necessity of the favours of God. Many set out 
that do not perform the journey,— and others remain with brutes 
because they will not go. God hat not predestinated our eternal 
destruction, but men hath chosen it. If we die with a fallen 
character when will we give light to the world ? Not till hell 
becomes a pleasure, and Heaven is tired of her saints. 

Rhyming 's but a simple notion, 

Yet it makes the silly wise, 
And every billow of the ocean 

Is pleasant in the Maker's eyes. 

Truth by every revelation, 

Is the spirit of the mind, 
And the great builder of creation, 

Writes his name on every kind. 

And all combined is but description, 

Revealing truths that are within ; 
One hidden truth commands submission, 

And here the deeds of light begin. 

Tis here our eyes are first unclosed, 

And here his Majesty doth rise ; 
And here the veil that sin 's imposed, 

Is rent and taken from our eyes. 



Jttkk 8th, 1833. 

The light of the mind is beyond being fully discovered, and the 
end of it beyond the measures of the man ; we can speak a little of 
its consequences and events, its lustre and benefit. There is no light 
that will compare with the light of the mind ; the righteous have 
been compared with it, and bear witness of God. The sun in the 
firmament is incomparable to that which enlightens the mind. There 
is a sufficiency of this internal illumination to light the whole heart. 
Its beginning may be compared to a light or lamp in darkness, but 
the increase hath no end to these that believe in its superior benefits 
to the world. Let a man possess what he will by nature, his heart 
remains as a field without cultivation without the direction ot this 
light; it not only givetb intelligence of time past, but directs our way 
through hours to come. History is veiled with darkness except 
through the means of this light, but through this light history gives 
intelligence of the truth to the soul. It not only lights us in darkness 
as the lamp the dark habitation, but utters language to the mind. It 
is not only capable of language to the mind, but agitates our feelings, 



128 IMPRESSIONS OF THE MIND. 

and sets all within in motion like a troubled ocean in the storm ; and 
not only so, there is strong power in the truth to still the restless 
waves, and abate the beating of the storm. Truth only is light. 
Herein men are compared to light — and are the light, because their 
verbal and written testimonies are the truth. 

It is light that darkens the mind as well as enlightens it. We 
must speak distinctly of these various operations to make our history 
clear. History giveth intelligence through the conveyance of the 
truth. Truth causes us to see that our mind is dark and void of 
understanding. It is truth that condemns the morning of our days, 
and clouds the mind with the evil consequence of our sins. It is the 
truth that puts out the false light of our imagination, and leaves the 
soul as without the least gleam of light in the night season. There 
are but few that are acquainted with the power of truth, but few hath 
followed him through all his hidden ways, in which he appears to man 
unknown to the world. I have found this intelligence in mine own 
mind, or as a hidden store that hath been lost from the world since 
the days of old. I esteem it as one of the greatest favours of God 
that he hath communicated something to my spirit, which is not com- 
mon with men. And it is not proper to hide this measure, as it tends 
to multiply the glory of the giver, whose name be praised without 
end. He is my God forever, the light and salvation of the mind. 

How plain the dimest eyes can see, 

When God it pleases to awake ; 
How clear the darkest sky can be, 

When God descends the cloud to break. 

How high our heart known praise can rise, 

When wrote upon an angel's wing ; 
How God can light the darkest skies, 

How loud with joy the mourner sings. 

How dark 's the tomb where sinners lie, 

How strong the cords by which they 're bound, 

How long to rise doth these deny, 
How deaf to hear the trumpet sound. 

Here death we see in various ways, 

With binding cords to still the soul, 
To bind the tongue from vocal praise, 

To bid die storms and billows roll. 

One God alone doth death command, 

One God alone spread out the sea ; 
And there 's but one redeeming hand, 

To conquer death and comfort me. 



CHAPTER II. 129 



All things but him as dust are vain, 
'Tis him the insect doth obey ; 

The sun proceeded from his name. 
The darkest night, the brightest day. 



There is but one original of our misery, and our chiefest joys-* 
our darkness and our light — our mourning and our praise. There 
is but one God that governs all these mysterious kingdoms of which 
we hear, (but humanly speaking cannot see.) There is but one 
power by which all move and have their being. God alone is the 
spring of life. Heaven is a place of joy, we have heard, and hell 
of misery. There is an inseparable connection between these two 
kingdoms ; this connection is in the one Governor that governs them, 
the spirit of truth. If death and hell had no terror in them, of what 
use would they be to men, or of what honour to God ? Hell is not 
in vain ; we lay the pillars of our repentance there. Who would 
refrain to sin, was it not for the fear of death? We may not always 
dread the dissolution of the body through the deeds of our sinning 
against God. This is not the death most to be dreaded ; but there 
is a following consequence for sin that afflicts the mind, and is called 
death, because it puts an end to all our spiritual joys — brings on the 
storm where the calm was, and sets the most quiet waters in a rage. 
No man can be reconciled to the events of sin, though some may be 
so hardened by practice that they may be but imperfectly capable of 
measuring the consequence. " The wages of sin is death," and hell 
receives the soul ; and it is as natural for a brute to be reconciled to 
a consuming fire, as for a soul or spirit to rest in hell. Here we are 
taught our fallibility, the error of our ways ; and in this lower kingdom 
a spirit is given us to change our deeds of life and the reformation of 
the mind, which completes the salvation of the man. All consists 
in obeying this invitation to a change of life. One spirit leadeth us 
there, but another out of this misery ; but all is God. It is the 
measures of my soul to know these various operations or impressions 
to be varying parts of one God, and are united in the bosom of the 
Lord ; and this is heaven, or a kingdom of peace. The name of 
kingdoms are but representations, and lead us on as to the substance 
from the shadow. It is God that formeth the shadow — he is the 
substance of every impression, and commands the whole heart— the 
evening and the morning are equal to him ; and these two kingdoms 
effect his purposes, the salvation of the mind. 



130 IMPRESSIONS OF THE MIND. 

June 18th, 1833. 

When I lie on the bed of death, 
And life must soon decay, 

How small 's the interest I am worth, 
How soon 'twill pass away ! 

Beneath the shadow of his wings, 
That bids my breath to cease, 

My soul shall find a thousand springs, 
And drink eternal peace. 

Though time afflicting days repeat, 
My sorrows can 't be long ; 

The path is short'ning for my feet, 
My steps increase my song. 

There is a stream to travel through, 
But a short space before ; 

There I shall bid my friends adieu, 
And I'll be seen no more. 

Oh then my kindred for me weep, 
And strew their tears in vain ; 

These weeping eyes shall ever sleep, 
Never to weep again. 



June 19th, 1833. 
CHAPTER III. 

It is hard to measure that which we cannot see, and there is none 
that can give bounds to the mind. This is the prerogative of an 
unmeasured and unnumbered being unto whom Moses hath given the 
name of God. By his information we call him so, and then pass on 
to behold his works. There is no doubt he wrought by faith, and 
giveth faith to the heart of man. Faith is a gift, or belief that we 
can accomplish in his name all things that an overruling power 
requires we should obey. By faith I use my trembling pen, with 
hope that I shall bring a few hidden parts of the mind to light, which 
we do not behold by common observation. It is the mind that is 
nearest these two distant kingdoms called heaven and hell, of which 
the inexperienced know but little of; they remain unto them as a 
distant country which they have heard of, but never have known. 






CHAPTER III. 131 



These two are positively passions of the mind ; and as they could 
not be seen, writers have set out to describe them by kingdoms, 
angels, and a king : but I am about to make them bare, and leave 
them naked in the world. Heaven still remains in obscurity, and is 
therefore too little desired ; hell, in like manner, is too little dreaded : 
but nothing is farther from me than to disbelieve there is a heaven 
and a God, a hell and a rebellious spirit therein. We are taught to 
dread this state of the mind, to raise the fear of God ; for hell is the 
vengeance of God, and this wicked world is in danger of being 
swallowed up in it. I will make no more use of Scripture than will 
assist the mind of those that read these lines when I am dead and 
gone ; for I am one alone, and not another is there possessed of my 
understanding, — yet I have no supremacy amongst men. The 
fathers will bear me witness, we cannot have an offspring of that 
which is only born of God, and it hath not pleased him to form 
another like unto me, neither have I a parent here below ; for flesh 
and blood hath not taught me these things, but a spirit that sees and 
hears, and is at peace. I cannot bring forth an increase of this 
spirit in the world, any more than the sea can produce beasts of the 
wilderness. All that I can do is to follow my guide and pen down 
the way. Deeds give light to the world, and so may these ; and as 
I have no hope in any survivor to vindicate these things which I 
now write, I am under a necessity to pen down such evidences as 
will end disputes about the things I write : and then these lines will 
be ever in court a jury present, and a judge in the minds of just men. 
As for our knowing any thing beyond the limits or bounds of the 
mind, it is impossible ; and him that writes of it is telling of things 
he never knew, neither can he, for the mind ia the bounds of reason, 
sense, justice, judgment, and mercy ; and farther than these heavenly 
lights are, we cannot perceive. It is not presumption to say we know 
that which we can make manifest to the mind of this world. If we 
are not improved beings, it doth not prove but that we may increase 
in wisdom, and have an understanding mind. The mind changes 
her garments oftener than a maiden doth her mantles, for the mind 
giyeth space to all things we can see and hear ; and one stage of the 
mind perhaps will not continue one hour without changing. It is 
the house of abilities, and the throne of God, or that which is to be 
known with us. It is there God judges his people, and there the 
world feels his judgments, and this world is the court of the Lord, 
and his sentences are known to the mind. We will not measure 
things out of the body ; this would be presumption and deceptive to 
the children of men. The body is the space of action, and the mind 
can do nothing out of it. And as the servant can relate of his mas- 
ter, so our mortal bodies can testify of a good or evil mind. How 
oft do we relate to each other how we feel, and like as many simple 
i2 



132 IMPRESSIONS OF THE MIND. 

children our evidence is true ! We possess strong desires for relief 
in trouble, but in the midst of our joys we wish to continue. God 
maketh an end of our sorrows now and then, and newly clothes the 
mind with another mantle, as the mother the little darling of her own 
heart. When our prayer is accomplished, and we gain a short space 
from woe and grief through the mercies of our God. Our joys will 
not continue. The sun may rise clear, but Providence may spread 
over the dark mantle, and we only see the sun by changes all our 
life long ; and so are the joys of the soul, for in the body she hath 
no abiding place. While we are in action, the scene changes — and 
that is while life remains ; for so long we are bringing in the event 
to the mind. The little child hath no sorrow for sin, because he hath 
not committed it. We cannot sin by doing the will of God, but by 
obeying the various passions of the mind. These are called satan, 
or fallen angels, when they lead us wrong — and miserable are the 
events of our sins, for it leads our minds astray and our deeds to be 
out of order ; and we manage our affairs like a man trying to build 
a house without plumet, rule, or line, and our works are ever jarring 
together for want of these. Righteousness is the greatest rule of 
architect on earth below or heaven above. What a hand a man 
maketh in his sorrows when he begins to curse men and give latitude 
to his passions. To run lawless, and without the fear of God, there 
is no being so capable of evil as he is. He may exemplify a thou- 
sand younger children than himself. What a most wretched parent 
he is to them that receive his doctrine. His soul is in hell, and he 
bears witness of his agonies. 

It never was heard, nor never will be known, that hell is our lot 
before sin ; but it is the event that corneth afterward. Now, I must 
close up the gate that I have opened concerning the Son of God, 
who suffered without sin. Our sins came first, and he died to teach 
us the event of them, and bore with patience that which we endure 
with anger. Oh what a light to a clouded and bewildered world ! 
Sometimes we are in the height of our joys ; they personally appear, 
because our minds are so, and the body bears witness that the mind 
is at rest, or as a child delighted with a new garment given of God. 
We may be delighted without righteousness, and suffer without sin ; 
but these are pictures of information of things to come. Did we not 
know the mind could be joyful, what invitation could heaven contain 
in it ? If we did not know we can receive sorrow, misery, and woe, 
what fear could we be possessed of to fear God or dread a burning 
hell? 

All these are passions of the mind, 
And these are paths to tread ; 

Through these the living God we find, 
And these are hourly bread. 



CHAPTER III. 133 

There is nothing so high as the mind, for our abilities may ever 
ascend in it. There is nothing so deep as the measures of the soul ; 
let us do what we will, there is still a space beyond — a hell 
unknown, a space unmeasured — the writers have said a " bottomless 
pit," because its bounds cannot be found — it is only measured by 
our sins ; and as we live to sin, we sink the deeper in despair ; 
hope forsakes us on our downward jouruey — our house hath no 
pillars, and when conviction rains from Heaven, we sink in despair 
— ascending increases our hope. We could not arise but by the 
event of our deeds, these elevate the mind as on the mountain top, 
from whence we can see a broad space on earth, and those that toil 
in it. There is no person purchased eternal reward while in the 
body ; for we have to travel over hills and mountains, through gulfs 
and rivers — and this is the progress of the mind. He is no minister 
or rabbi whose soul hath not been in hell, neither can he tellthe 
afflicted captive how he can escape his bonds and set his mind free 
from eternal death. 

Teaching men should be men of experience ; but, alas ! they are 
but men of history, relating that which they have heard rather than 
shewing that which they have known. The priests and rulers of the 
land should acquaint themselves with these things at school, and then 
read them in the church or declare them in courts of law. I pre- 
sume the sheep have not their proper pasture, neither have they 
received that which God has intended for them, or these singular 
lines would not be written. These will be as a sword to priestcraft 
and reach the mind of the people, because they are true, revealing 
that which is not known, and discovering that which will come to 
pass. If a man knows his own mind, he needeth no teacher. God 
is there, the best of masters, the spirit of truth. What is history to 
him that knows his own mind? It is no more than letters in arith- 
metic, with which without figures as signs he can do nothing. His- 
tory tells us of heaven and hell, but experience leads us to these 
kingdoms, and from thence the mind returns while in the body, and 
we can tell the way — we can tell the traveller of all the ports of rest, 
havens of joy, gulfs of distress, rivers of despair, and the power of 
God. The mind is known to a Creator; and to whom he will, he 
reveals the mind, as the far distant country appears to the travelling 
man. We partake of joys, or we should faint, — of sorrows, or we 
would forget God, and have no compass for the soul. As long as 
God pleases we wear these mantles. When he commands sorrow 
and soberness to depart, we cannot retain them. He taketh the 
mind, as the mother the infant ; she seeth when he needeth a change, 
she strippeth him of his clothes, and covers him again ; she will not 
leave Jiim without her attributes : and so doth God by the soul of 
man. "Whatever we wear, it is the pleasure of God, he puts it on, 
i3 



134 IMPRESSIONS OF THE MIND. 

and we cannot resist. Our joys are but for a moment. As there is 
new mantles in the desk for the babe, he hath hidden treasures for 
the soul, and will not suffer us to remain in old clothes. Like a 
garment our joys wear away, and we are baptized or washed in 
sorrow, before they are increased or renewed again. But the favors 
of God are ever new. These increase our faith and strengthen our 
trust ; we hope in God and pursue again. Was there not something 
to travel for, I am sure the mind would be still ; but God hath ever- 
lasting riches in store, and when we enjoy them, they are heaven 
to the mind. Then doth peace rule over us — the governing passions 
of the soul. This is the reign of the Messiah which shall take place 
on earth, the fall of pride, and satan will be as contented in his place 
as before the worlds began. He is only a passion to be experienced 
to make our joys the more sweet; and then to him we '11 bid adieu, 
and he'll enjoy his former rest. He is a part of the mind, and one 
of the passions this unknown space contains, and life is order in the 
soul ; and then doth all things revolve to their former place. 

Oh what craft abounds on earth, and oh what speculations on the 
poor for want of knowing these things ! but God will give them to 
the world, and the spirit of truth shall rule over us. Then are courts 
and congresses done ; then are kings and priests in vain. Then shall 
the shepherd see his flocks at rest, and peace their hedge forever- 
more. 

Then shall the harp forever sound, 

Then shall the joyful ever sing ; 
Because the lasting pasture's found, 

Likewise the never failing spring. 

Oh hell, vain bubble, but a span, 

To these that tread thy darkness through ; 

Thy space is the events of man, 

That doth their tempting thoughts pursue. 

The darkest mansion of the mind, 

Yet 'tis for sinners to improve ; 
No peace the wicked here can find, 

Until our sinful thoughts remove. 

'Tis hell consumes our stolen joys, 

'Tis God above inspires the flame, 
'Tis God alone our hope destroys, 

In things that are fleeting and in vain. 

All these are lines that are drawn to know 

The varied precepts of our God ; 
For he commands, and things are so, 

We find them when we walk abroad. 



CHAPTER III. 135 

Our rolling mind is never still, 

Our thoughts are restless as the wave ; 
And we pursue to life fulfil, 

And ever toil the soul to save. 

If sin we bring the wages home, 

And know the space we never knew ; 
If we see God upon his throne, 

The latter doth convince us too. 

Unbounded mind, how far from home 
All thy unnumbered thoughts can move ; 

To worlds unseen, to heights unknown, 
The wonders of thy God to prove. 



June 20th, 1833. 

My soul, bring intelligence from a far country, show thy mantles to 
the world, wherewith God has clothed thee — speak plain of Heaven 
and hell, that the doubtful may be still, and false language cease. 
Truth, clothe thyself with my spirit for a moment and then cast off 
thy shame, and dwell alone. The scriptures are the truth in the 
principles of them ; there may be a fev errors by way of translation, 
but the principles of them are true, and no honest mind can be 
mistaken in them. The principles of the sacred historians are these: 
sorrows for sin, and joys for righteousness. And God has given us 
a mind like unto these, and he is a fool in divine things, and a liar 
against the truth, that disbelieveth them ; he is ignorant of his own 
soul, and his heart will compare with the brute ; but God hath given 
it him for the choice he hath made, and the way he spends his time 
in speaking against just men, seven times wiser than himself. 

It is the sacred characters that give light to the world, and 
experience tells us that Moses is true, who hath testified of God, 
and the heart of this world ; for we have a mind as he hath said 
unto us, we come to shame for our sins, and put off the dark mantle 
by a change of life. I have honoured the sacred characters and 
will write for myself, and of things my spirit hath known, for this 
also is the truth. I have known as much misery as I could bear and 
exist — (my mind has been like him that said my burden is more than 
I can bear) — and if God had not put forth his hand, I should have 
given way beneath my heavy load. How came this upon me ? I 
can answer of a truth, it was from varying in my deeds of life from 
what God had revealed I should perform. I never was a criminal 
in court, nor called to the bar to answer to Judge or Jury, in all my 
days. I have committed no sin that is unpardonable by men or 



136 IMPRESSIONS OF THE MIND. 

even discovered by the human race ; but I offended my God and 
know his vengeance to be poured out upon my spirit ; and him that 
saith that there is no hell is not sensible that he hath a living mind 
within him. To see or feel the joys of righteousness, or know the 
agonies of hell below the skies — hell is said to be below and heaven 
above, and I add my witness as a confirmation that such intelligence 
is the truth, and proceeded out from God — my soul hath been in the 
sacred furnace ; Job speaketh of it in his affliction. I could not know 
by his declaration the effects of the sacred flame; but when all 
seemed to be consuming within me, and the world passing away, 
then did I know that Job spoke the truth. I do not ivish to take 
the scripture from the Bible, and write them here, let this suffice, as 
I know the intelligence of Job to be true by experience — so do I 
know the other sacred characters likwise ; and that Moses spoke 
the truth about the fall ; and Christ about the resurrection. And 
these are the pillars of the Christian world (to whom I am writing) 
and the examples of civil government, and hath given laws to the 
world far better than our unredeemed mind ; and he doeth well that 
walketh in them, and observeth them through life ; for whatever he 
may receive of God, he findeth them in his way, and these are a 
literal path to rest, but we must experience them — we must come 
and see. I sought not misery yet misery came. I made my own 
choice in choosing joys, or the fruit I would partake of — but oh the 
end pen nor tongue can never tell, neither is this mortal body 
altogether adequate to answer for the immortal soul. 

The mind liveth, because we have a mind like unto our father 
Adam, and a divided world like unto his sons, and one is against the 
other in it. Then are we sure that neither the mind of the good nor 
of the evil hath ceased — both are afflicted ; but the righteous is 
borne up by hope, when the wicked sinketh in despair. Misery is 
of good effect to the mind, it is the means of our repentance, and 
adds strong reasons why we should make a change of life or choose 
another road ; for our first acting propensities, lead us down to hell ; 
it is a place of refinement ; inspires to choose the better way — it is 
the end of imagination, it inspires with the truth — it is not false, 
it afflicts the mind, soul, or spirit that is within us. It is spirit, 
because it afflicts the mind and is the order of life appointed for 
them that sin. It is to make our garments clean and put our spots 
away. It is below indeed, what a condition it brought Job into, his 
person was a true figure of an afflicted mind ; what a condition it 
hath brought my spirit into ! Nothing was too dear to offer unto 
God for a release. No deist taught me this — no atheist was with 
me there. I here begin to find that my mind was a table for the Al- 
mighty to write laws upon, and engrave his will upon the mind ; this is 
baptism indeed, — it is the baptism of the Son of God. It is with fire, 



CHAPTER III. 137 

and the holy Spirit of God doeth it. It is below indeed, for nothing 
in Heaven above or all on earth can comfort there. It is where 
God hath decreed misery, and there is no changing of it ; no one 
can testify of country or climate, as him that hath lived in it, and my 
soul hath been in extreme misery and did live ; received a release 
from bonds and ascended from the afflicting flame. How did I arise or 
see a release? may be a question the unexperienced may put to my 
spirit. The answer is plain and easy to these that know not, but 
the experienced need no book, for they have seen with their eyes 
and heard with their ears the heart-felt sentences of an angry Judge. 
The answer is, my heart was softened like ore in the furnace, and 
all within me said, do with me what thou wilt. I will give all the 
remaining part of my days to serve thee ; only release me from 
these bonds, and all that I have is thine. Thus I covenanted with 
my God, and saw a release — I did not only covenant, but set myself 
out to fulfill, and he filled my spirit as with wine ; and I became 
like one intoxicated with the joys of life. He changed my garments 
— he turned my sorrows into joy, and my mourning into songs of 
praise. But oh how low I was ; sun, moon, nor stars, gave light 
unto me, nor instruction how to ascend from this horrid place. All 
books were no more than leafs of clean paper. The sacred charac- 
ters bore evidence against my sins. The earth was covered with a 
mantle of darkness — I saw no joys in it — my food was tasteless — 
my wine without spirit, and water would not quench my thirst. The 
flame was spiritual, and with man there is no abating it. Hell is an 
evidence of God's power, and he that descends to those lower 
regions (or various degreees of conviction) will find it is so, and 
never dispute with the account I give of it. He that knows can tell, 
and he only — I write for a staff for others to lean upon that may be 
travelling this way, not that I can save, but my memory that I 
communicate may somewhat lighten the burden, and be borne in 
mind the afflicting journey through. But few will be as deeply 
baptized as I have been, into this horrid gulf, where there is no 
relief but by the mercy of an everlasting God, that laid the pillars of 
the earth and spread out the sea. We err in our joys, and in our 
misery, until we are corrected in them. I have found the miseries 
of hell a sure place from temptation ; it is not where sins increase, 
but where we repent of them. The thief on the cross repented in 
misery — so doth all that improve the mind that God has given. 
Conviction convinces of sin, and sorrow softens the mind, and 
prepareth us for the works of God, and I have forsaken my interest 
here below, and am now doing them. I have known that gold 
availeth nothing in the hour of conviction ; God requires a broken 
heart and an upright mind — one that is broken from its hardness 
and will stand upright according to his laws. Our joys lead us 



138 IMPRESSIONS OP THE MIND. 

to forget the sorrows of sin, when we drink too freely of them ; but 
God leaveth us not in hell if our repentance is sincere ; nor in 
heaven if we forget his name — (that is the vengeance of his wrath) — 
for both of those should, and do, leave a lasting impression on the 
mind of those that choose to fear and serve the Lord. And some- 
times we are" clothed with misery, and sometimes with joy ; and 
these are changes of garments, and given us of God. These are 
various passions that rule over us in their appointed time, there is no 
doubt of it. The joys that heaven afford hath no sting in them, no 
dread nor fear, that we are doing wrong — there are no Jaws written 
against our partaking of them. Neither is the mind of a deity (which 
far exceeds ours) contrary to these joys, they are a part of him and 
given us to enjoy. The joys of the righteous and the wicked, 
exceedingly differ in their nature — leave a sting in the mind, which 
is hard to endure, and brings a dark and mournful mantle over the 
soul; we mourn in the solitary place and abhor our deeds before 
the Lord; we own how frail we are, and repent of them. Those 
very deeds that delight us in our sins, are better to us when we are 
farther advanced in life, and more acquained with the more sublime 
joys of Heaven and God. So both country and climate changes 
with us as we travel forward through life ; and as we do, God clothes 
the mind, and commands our various passions to rule over us, he is 
the governor of the soul, there is no changing his decrees ; what he 
hath said at the first will remain forever. 

We shall suffer for our sins, and rejoice in the repenting of them. 
And he that believeth in any other doctrine or tenets, hath no part 
with me in the works of God, nor explaining truths to the world. 
Experience confirms the sacred writings to be the truth, in the 
principles of them, and I am not adding to them ; but every revealed 
truth increaseth light, and God is multiplying wisdom in the world. 

Oh rest, my soul, sit down and sing, 

The flowing stream is by ; 
The heart, of man 's a living spring, 

That never more will dry. 

The thirsty doth assemble there, 

And there repeat their praise ; 
A heritance regained by prayer, 

The mourner's happy days. 

There is green fields of pasture round, 

And fruit upon the trees, 
And David 's harp of pleasant sound, 

To gain the praise of these. 



CHAPTER IV. 139 

I knew no want, I had no care, 

The saints compass'd me round ; 
FilPd up with joys, I had no prayer, 

For all I sought was found. 

Both woe and want was put way, 

My soul was raised so high ; 
I thirsted for no other day, 

Nor did I fear to die. 

The clouds above began to move, 

And [ could see the sun ; 
Jehovah clothed me with his love, 

And all my fears were done. 

But Oh ! I had not long to stay, 

Nor could I quite be still ; 
God led me farther on my way, 

Because it was his will. 

And something more we ne'er can find, 

As we through life pursue ; 
The lonesome journey's in the mind, 

Both hell and heaven too. 

'T is God commands those parts parts to reign, 

Tis him that stills our foes ; 
And what hath been, will be again, 

And then the scene will close. 



June 24th, 1833. 
CHAPTER IV. 

The mind is an atmosphere in itself, containing wonders to us 
unkown. He that doth not improve his own mind, liveth in ignorance 
all his days, and dieth short of the intended city, or salvation of the 
soul. A field improved is productive — a land cultivated is enjoyed, 
for then we reap the product of our labour ; and it is so with the 
mind. The atmosphere changeth by an over-ruling providence, 
and there appeareth to be life and motion, in the whole moving 
system, and this to me is the distant and uncomprehended life of 
God. He hideth in the cloud, he obscures himself in the clearest 
sky — he liveth in in the deep waters, the living is there, they have 
their course to run, and I am not afraid to say that nature has a God, 



140 IMPRESSIONS OF THE 31IND. 

and there is not a plant nor tree without him, bud, leaf, or flower. 
We cannot see any thing, but God is there — he is perfect in the 
storm, he orders the waves of the sea, they rise and fall at his com- 
mand, there is no space where he is not, and man is as part of these ; 
and God is likewise in the soul, he is the order of life, and the joy 
of all living, — the stars sparkle with his light, and he commands the 
rays of the sun to their most extensive bounds. My thoughts, come 
home into thine own house, and begin to measure thine own habita- 
tion, and declare to the world the wonders of thy God ; prove that 
thou art acquainted with him, by leaving an evidence of his light to 
bear witness of him to the sons arid daughters of men. He hideth 
himself in the mind as in the cloud, and in the waters ; and we mus^ 
seek and find him there. Can a man travel in his own heart ? 
he can seek peace when he is disconsolate. A thirsty brute would 
seek the fountain of water. Oh silly man, art thou more ignorant 
than these — sun, moon, nor stars can comfort thee, when thou art in 
trouble, earth nor all her bearing trees — then seek that which thou 
hast lost when thou wast a child, which is a guiltless and a quiet 
mind. Improve thy mind and reap : behold the storm and be still ; for 
it is but a shadow of that which doth abound within the soul. God 
changeth the atmosphere, so doth he change the mind, and in every 
change, we travel forward, if our feet are placed in the ways of 
eternal life : to all that is without the mind, we must die. But a 
justified mind will live forever ; it may be so with the sinner and 
the wicked, but those that live in conviction, live to mourn — and 
the present wicked inherits the mind of the first sinner that existed 
on earth. The mind of one is extensive enough to receive the whole, 
and a convicted mind is hell to me, and there has been no increase 
of heaven or hell since the world was made, or man existed. 
If I enjoy a justified mind it is heaven tome, and as all goodness 
floweth from one spirit and the waters return to the sea, so hath 
all the righteous but one mind, and inherit the pleasures of God. It 
is the righteous that know the Lord, and glorify his name — they 
sing a thousand songs of joy ; while the sinner is pouring forth gall 
from his lips ; his word is bitter because his soul is in hell ; he 
cannot praise, because his spirit is in bitterness, and his life and 
language are bitter to the world : here is the difference between the 
justified and convicted — the improving man reaps his joys when the 
sluggard is bitter for the want of them — he is like a man wanting the 
bread of comfort to his soul ; and he is so clothed with ignorance 
which is the production of sin, that he envieth others like a wicked 
brother, and is uncomfortable to the world. It is meet that I bear 
witness of these things, as I have a mind acquainted with these 
kingdoms and have improved them both, through the mercy of God, 
to mine own advantage, and can speak the truth of them. 



CHAPTER IV. 141 

Few have been baptised in sorrow as deep as I have, and but few 
have been raised so high in the joys of life. I therefore trust 1 shall 
be found a true historian of the mind, and add somewhat to the infor- 
mation of an inexperienced mind. I do not believe that any thing 
is given the mind, or taken away from the foundations of the world. 
I cannot conceive that the grace of God descends from the skies or 
comes up out of the water, but that it is found in the heart, and 
enlightens the mind. It is said to be a gift ; and truly it is so, with 
all our moving propensities within. The child knoweth not there is 
grace in his mind, any more than he knows there is fish in the bot- 
tom of the sea ; but in progressing forward he finds it there. Our 
father in the first innocent station of life did not know there was 
conviction in his mind, but in his pilgrimage he found the unhappy 
space, and a God to rule over him, a cloud to obscure his mind, and 
sorrow in his soul. He saw that he was naked, that knew it not 
before. Can disputants disagree with me, and say — these were not 
new discoveries, made by our afflicted father, and that he found them 
in his mind ? No, it is impossible ; life was there — God was there, 
and with irresistible power, like a supreme court, ruled over the 
mind, and our father had a sorrowful and an afflicted soul. The 
soul of every wicked man is his soul, and his is theirs ; and 
as there is but one God, and one atmosphere, there is but one 
mind in the whole earth, but the revelation of the system is this, — 
sometimes we are governed by the event of temptation, some- 
times with the event of conviction, and at other times with the 
pardon and blessing of a God ; and these are all the changes there 
are in this world. It is the various passions at their different and 
appointed times ruling over us, and there never was one created, or 
given the mind, but hath a time to reign, inspiring our choice by 
these various operations, which shall rule over us and according to 
our choice : so we form the man. 



Instruction is a world of light, 
Ignorance as the darkest night; 
We wander but we know not where, 
So good and evil doth compare. 

We see the sun to set and rise, 
We see the foolish and the wise ; 
When we look strictly thro' the mind, 
The cause we know, the good we find. 

These, these are given to inform, 

The calm, the wave, the beating storm ; 



142 IMPRESSIONS OF THE MIND. 

The cloud that doth obscure the sky, 
The sun that sets and rises high. 

The barren and the bearing trees, 
Have their appointment and decrees ; 
The bud, the leaf, the op'ning flower, 
All reasoning for a God of power. 

The calmest day, the strongest wind, 
Are evidences of the mind ; 
Our troubled hours and calmest peace, 
Relates that time doth never cease. 

One God in every thing we see, 
Though varied as the world may be ; 
All is connected and the same, 
From whence our joys or troubles came. 

To unconnect a varied God, 

Is beyond the power of flesh and blood ; 

Be still and see the system roll, 

All, all's connected with the soul. 

No joint can e'er be put apart, 
God is the centre of the heart ; 
And him that can the centre find, 
Will see contentment through the mind. 

Oh earth, pour out thy blessings upon us as fountains of living 
water ! Oh heaven, shine upon us with all thy glory ! All ye saints 
compass us round ! All ye prophets dwell in the midst of us, near 
unto the throne of God ! Enlighten the dark parts of the earth ; 
speak peace to the world, and bid the weary rest. 

These are all revelations of the mind, and all things that we can 
read may be found in the mind ; from thence they came at the begin, 
ning, and all intelligent writings invite us to the centre of the soul, 
and there our wearied propensities find a resting place. 

I will now begin to mark the path to the city, but extensive is the 
circle that reacheth there. 

Doth not angels hover round about us seeking admittance to the 
mind ? Such writing is altogether a figure, but our angelic spirits (or 
compound which composes the mind) seek to rise from the fall of 
sin, and cannot rest in these lower kingdoms of conviction ; therefore 
there is a seeking and praying with men of sense. There is a turn- 
ing away from our temptations, and a denying of them. In the first 
place we are tempted by the world and the things of it ; in the second 
place, the hope of heaven transpires above these lower objects, and 



CHAPTER IV. 143 

again we are tempted with joys above, and they strengthen our hope, 
and increase our faith to believe there is a supreme joy to any thing 
we have not yet known. All the earth will not comfort the mind, but 
in heaven we are accomplished. Things out of the body cannot be 
known, only when we are out of it; and without the body nothing 
hath been revealed to the world from the throne of God. When the 
righteous die to this world they see peace, their soul enters into the 
happy kingdom. Thus the saints have wrote of heaven, and thua 
the experienced have written of eternal burning, and how disagree- 
able it is, — representing this furnace (by comparison, because it 
refines, and moulds the soul into a frame or temper of repentance) 
by brimstone and fire, — making use of every possible means to con- 
vince the world of the consequences of sin, and the events of them, 
and on the other hand, the joys of the righteous, by representing the 
kingdom of heaven as a choir of singers, praising Almighty God for 
a great deliverance from a prison of conviction, into which all sinners 
descend before they rise to the kingdom of heaven. And this prais- 
ing system or representation I know is true, for all our faculties are 
glad and full of joy and the great mercy of God, which is an effec- 
tual feeling of the mind, in the midst of them as a monarch, or his 
miraculous name receiving praise for wonders done. It is the joy 
of the soul to give thanks, and the mercy of God to receive. Thus 
believe I, that the whole mind of the righteous is in operation forever ; 
because the mind is life, and God, undivided from every other part 
of the Deity, abideth in it, and hath revealed these things to the 
world by the sacred writers. But that I may not leave this body 
without giving the world a witness that I see also, I write in a little 
different style or form, not obscuring the Scriptures, but adding my 
evidence that the sacred writings are lines of experience, and books 
of great information, and are profitable to the world. They are the 
productions of experienced minds, there is no doubt of it ; and though 
the different writers were selected from far distant ages, the writings 
in the principles of them agree, and are unto us an undeniable witness 
that one God presides over all forever. They that believe have 
wrought wonders, improved their mind and divided their harvest with 
the world, as a rich man can give unto the poor; but the unbeliever 
hath left his fields unimproved, his lands uncultivated, and is but a 
shadow of darkness to the human family. He believeth not, because 
he hath not had wherewith to gather in ; and he is so distant from 
the cultivator, or improver, in the harvest day, that he hath nothing. 
He has made no discovery, because he has sat still ; and from the 
same state of ignorance proceeds on to say, — Scriptures are not the 
truth, when the experienced mind, the travelling man, the cultivator 
can positively declare he found them in his own mind to be a book 
of order, and lines of peace. 



144 IMPRESSIONS OF THE MIND. 

Now shall my soul set down and sing, 

I 'II see a day to rest ; 
Not covered with an angel's wing, 

Save these within my breast. 

The crystal fountains gently flow, 
I see the springs to rise ; 

And hell and sorrow sink below, 
Veil'd with the brightest skies. 

I see the earth her pleasures yield, 
To clothe my weary mind ; 

I see the harvest of the field, 
That every soul can find. 

The weary enter into rest, 
While the unfruitful stay ; 

Where weary brutes are long oppress'd, 
And see a tedious day. 

Oh full and plenty is my store, 
And I can feed the poor ; 

Nor things below I covet more, 
Their burdens to endure. 



June 27th, 1833. 

To thy eternal name, 
That fram'd the earth and skies, 
That never spoke a word in vain, 
Let incense ever rise ! 

Ride on the cloud and see, 
Behold a rising sun ; 
All nature's name arose from thee, 
In thee the worlds begun. 

Both earth and sea adore, 
The billows are thy name ; 
The hidden rock, the peaceful shore, 
From thy own bosom came. 

Let every age and tongue, 
Long, long declare thy praise ; 
For thou hast all these wonders done. 
In heaven, in earth, and seas. 



145 



CHAPTER V. 

The storms are thy command, 
The billows and the wave ; 
The living of both sea -and land, 
Likewise the dark'ning grave. 

All have their birth in thee, 
Let incense ever rise, 
From all that's in the earth and sea, 
In heaven or in the skies. 

Ride on the cloud and see, 
That all the earth adores, 
And all our limbs rejoin in thee, 
With sun, with moon and stars. 



July 1st, 1833. 

CHAPTER V. 

The earth abounds with sorrow, but the mind is not full; as the 
sea drinketh in rivers of water, so doth the mind the sorrows of this 
world and is not yet satisfied. We thirst for the judgments of the 
Lord in an obscure way, that is unknown to ourselves. The vain 
delights of time invite us forward ; we fall into the pit or snare short 
of obtaining them, and there the mind mourns for error, for the 
purpose of proving that there is right and wrong, and sorrow convin- 
ces the mind. These ways are the decrees of God, to us unforeseen, 
— but known of God, who hath predetermined them. If one fall 
would convince us of sin, and convert the mind, we would not fall 
so often ; but as often as we sin we shall suffer for it, and it hath 
been so since the worlds began. Man could not sin of himself, but 
the world helpeth him that God hath made, and invites him forward 
to taste and see the events of time, and what they afford the mind. 
The son of God lived and sinned not : he is our pattern, — he did not 
come to shew the righteous how to live ; but sinners how to enter 
into rest — and cast off their weary load. The rise, is like the fall, 
and both is decreed of God, and we may partake of them. God 
hath not sworn that he will convince the world of sin, by any other 
means than sorrow. There is something left for us to do, we must 
toil, or suffer for the wages of the obedient, or these that serve the 
Lord. Sorrow or trouble, is as natural to the mind as the bread 
we eat, and is in store with God, ere we partake of it. The heart 
of God is incomprehensible, because it is greater than our own ; but 
we cannot see or feel any thing, but the spirit of it is in the bosom of 

K 



146 IMPRESSIONS OF THE MIND. 

God ; he is the spirit of the world — and there is nothing can live or 
move without him ; he is in light and darkness, with the living and 
the dead : I mean with the souls that hath departed life. He is with 
the patriarchs of old, prophets and apostles. He must be with those 
that abide his wrath, as perfect as he is with these that are in a hea- 
ven of joys. All things came forth from his spirit ; if not so, who is 
he? or what is the life of man? The mind knoweth these things, 
and ihe man is a world within himself, and the invisible God ruleth 
over it. If not so, who is he, or to whom is he accountable ? If not 
so, why is he not a master of continuing joys, rather than a servant 
of sorrow ? It is the most extensive education in life to know the 
man, and the far extending bounds of the soul. He may find his 
mind as a world unknown, in which he may improve or travel for- 
ever. He will ever find new discoveries in it, unfathomable deeps 
and heights unknown. 

Him that hath gone out of it to see the works of God, only behold, 
eth the world at a distant prospect ; he can see but imperfectly, and 
account for nothing he sees. A man that cultivates one field reap- 
eth more from it than the whole world which he improveth not ; so 
is the man that improves his mind, he finds bread at home, while the 
wandering are starving abroad. We cannot satisfy ourselves by 
hearing or seeing the works of men and God ; bat a man can eat 
the bread of peace that cultivates his mind, and satisfy all his hunger 
and his thirst for seeing the distant hills, or ascending mountains 
to us unknown. How this improvement or cultivation is to be made, 
is a question for which we may seek the answer, and not find. We 
cannot conceive that Moses was present when the world was made, 
or that a history of the creation was handed down to him, but that it 
was revealed to him by the spirit of truth, and his witness or proof 
were the fathers that lived before him. He did not travel over the 
world to give an account of it, and yet there is not a historian on 
authenticated ground that can deny the truths that he hath penned. 
He is the great evangelist of God, and the only man that hath so 
discovered a Deity to the world. If nothing yet remains to be 
known, we need not seek farther; but as many things yet remain in 
obscurity, it is needful we should seek : for the more we find, the 
more we glorify our Creator by revealing hidden truths to the world. 
Moses formed a communion with God in his own mind, and from 
thence proceeded the history of the world* The wise prophet did 
not dispute with him nor the Son of God. His lessons given us to 
read are the truth, and will stand forever. But these bright sons of 
the morning revealed something that Moses left untold ; and so they 
continued on from the first to the last of them, and all continuing to 
give a history of the mind of a Deity. It is to our mind he reveals 
himself; that which we see with our eyes is but an imperfect con- 



CHAPTER V. 147 

ception of the things of God. The mind knoweth the truth, for God 
is a spirit and revealeth himself to the mind, which is a spirit, and a 
servant of the Lord. These bodily conceptions deceive us, and 
delude the mind when we go after them. Now we will answer the 
question how a man may improve his own mind, and place it into 
the capacity of the poor and illiterate man. For instance, Moses 
was not rich, nor David when he became a king, nor Peter, James 
nor John, when they became apostles ; but Christ became as God 
unto them. So Moses improved Aaron and his brethren ; and by the 
improvement of the mind made them men of great sense and talent. 
Wisdom took up her abode with them, and revealed herself to the 
world through these oracles of light. 

Hath the Lord sworn he cannot be found if we seek after him ? 
He is hidden indeed, too precious a prize to be found in the street, 
or gathered from the trees, to be known by travelling over Asia or 
other parts of the world, by fathoming out the sea, or sailing to all 
the ports below the sun. He is hidden in the mind. The mind is 
his clothing ; he is within the mantle and may be found. My soul, 
call on the name of the Lord — he is not far off that he cannot hear — 
he is within thee, waiting to be revealed to man, when he shall 
receive the titles of honour that are his due for so doing. 

Oh man, begin to make the enquiry at the gates of heaven — why 
thou mourns at the turns of the mind or changes of the seasons, why 
thou art the works of God, and art still unhappy? And God will 
reply, — I witness for him this day, and reveal the prize I have found. 
I was ever unhappy and afraid until I improved my own mind ; bui 
from that time I have no need to borrow of my neighbours, Moses or 
the prophets, but call on them to prove that God has done by my 
soul, as he hath done by them, and provided a path of mine own, 
and he walketh in it before me. I continue, and still find my ap- 
pointments are written there, and are a law to my mind. Before 
this hand-writing in my soul I had no way, my propensities ran law- 
less through life ; I saw much, but knew nothing that satisfied my 
mind, or put the dread of hell away. Moses revealed there was a 
cause to fear ; and the many punishments of God visited on the 
world, is a proof that Moses spake the truth. This law hath no end. 
A book we can read through, but who can tell what God will reveal 
unto us, or what life will conceive if we continue on the mysterious 
journey 1 I possess more hope now than ever I did, although I am 
advanced in years. 

By prophetic whispering in mine ears, there remains more to be 
done ; God is yet to be sought, and truths revealed. I know not 
that I am nearer the end of my journey than at the beginning, though 
more is received ; and there is no doubt with me that the mind can 
receive and be enlarged forever. This is the way to find the prize, 
k2 * 



148 IMPRESSIONS OF TfiE MIND. 

improve the heart, and become independent of men, and a servant 
of the Lord, and he will bless thee, (for it is his pleasure to richly- 
pay his servants for their labour.) Thus I answer the question, im- 
prove the mind as a field or vineyard of the Lord, given thee to im- 
prove. Thou will find sweet fruit on the vine, a rich harvest in the 
field that will put thee out of debt to all men ; and thine whole heart 
will honour the Lord, and all thy propensities or moving abilities 
within will praise him. Thou wilt know him to be a God over all, 
and the order of life, a law written in the mind. Hidden in the 
mantle thou mayest find him there ; he will be found of thee forever. 
This law hath no end ; if we should ascend to heaven it is but begun, 
for he will order thy praise, and the deeds thy mind should do for- 
evermore. 

I sought the Lord alone, without the help of men. I retired from 
the world and all that were abroad to seek peace at home ; and an 
unknown God said unto me, Choose religion for thy path, and sacri- 
fice for thy deeds of life. I know not from whence the voice came, 
but it was strong in me. I believed it without doubting, and began 
to obey the will of the Lord. He soon shewed unto me the use of 
sorrow, and that I must embrace her as a dear companion of my 
soul, for she was a part of mine own mind, and could not be put 
away; and the joys of life were like unto her, both good in their 
season. In this my mind rejoices. I began to know myself, and 
how to serve the Lord, and I am still increasing my store, for wisdom 
increases with me. I am still travelling farther on, and to this 
church (the christian world) I will tell of the mind ; but unto the 
Jew and the heathen I will write of the Deity, for they are the oldest 
in the world, and the Christians will learn of them. They have 
seen the most sorrow, and will receive the most sublime wisdom, and 
the Jewish church and Israel will live for evermore. 

Oh now my praise abounds, 

And I have cause to weep, 
For in mine ear the trumpet sounds, 

Awakening these that sleep. 

I found the life of Moses in mine own soul, and the spirit of Abra- 
ham that lived by faith ; for my dwelling hath been alone, — I have 
had no companion nor household with me on this lonesome journey, 
save the spirit of Moses and the prophets to whisper in mine ears 
to encourage me, and tell me that I was right, and that God whom I 
could not comprehend was before me. The memorial of these 
increased my faith, and I continued my slow but steady steps forward, 
and all my compass is the mind, and all the circles of my days are 
written there, and I must seek to find them. 



CIIAPTEK V. 149 

All, all along I 've songs of praise, 

And hear the trumpet sound, 
That I shall see increasing days, 

And worlds of light be found. 

The pillars that hath first been laid, 

Mine eyes shall plainly see, 
And tell the world how peace is made, 

And of mount Calvary. 

The ancient city^s in the mind, 

Jerusalem was built, 
Where seeking men their guilt may find, 

Where precious blood was spilt. 

The Lord will build the city new, 

Not as it stood before ; 
And he will call the kindred Jew, 

To fall and part no more. 

These things — engraven in the mind, 

I often read them there ; 
What's lost the Jew again will find, 

And build the house of prayer. 

And kindred nations will come in, 

As once they've done before, 
And Israel's praise will there begin, 

Nor cease forevermore. 



The earth smiles with a blessing. Wisdom walketh in it, her 
hands are spread abroad. Sorrow hath had her place in the mind. 
The flower mourned beneath the frowns of God ; the tree ceased to 
bear, the tender grass withered away, and appeared again. The 
scorching beams of the sun caused the fruitful fields to thirst for a 
blessing. The days of sorrow are fulfilled ; mourning is past in 
these that know the Lord, that is to say, we know the blessed effects 
of sorrow when we embrace her as a maiden when she walketh 
alone in the earth. 

The humble cry ; what do they thirst for? It is to know the use 
and purpose of the abilities and propensities of the mind that God 
hath given ; for this satisfieth the soul, and she weepeth no more for 
that which she enjoys. 
k3 



150 IMPRESSIONS OF THE MIND. 

July 15th, 1833. 

Dark are the valleys deep and low, 
My mournful spirit travels through ; 

No sun upon those ways have shone, 
No brother nor no shepherd known. 

Yet here do I existence find, 

(Tis but improvement in the mind;) 

Like fields 'twere never sown nor bore, 
Where sin nor satan 's known no more. 

Mine eyes see no temptations here, 
Nor ruling men nor ghosts appear ; 

Like to the wood where nature grew, 
My mournful spirit's trav'ling through. 

Tis where the plant at first arose, 

Before the worlds were known to foes ; 

It is where friends to man appear, 

From heaven above most bright and clear. 

Tis here we see the sun to rise, 
The light and glory of the skies, 

It is where God to man is known, 
And truth can comfort man alone. 



July 22nd, 1833. 

When we rejoice or we complain, 
Or with those calls comply; 

They 're those the bosom doth contain, 
They're calls that none deny. 

Omnipotence writes his decrees, 

Amidst a changing mind, 
These various parts are bearing trees, 

And we 're to these inclined. 

Who bids the ocean to be still, 

And then the waves obey, 
Save him that made us of his will, 

And made his house of clay ? 

Man is the clothing of the wise, 
The storm and calm is there, 

The cloud that darkens all the skies, 
Likewise the clearest air. 



CHAPTER V. 151 



July 29th, 1833. 

Why should I doubt, why should I fear, 
A resurrection day is near ; 
Although this body shall decay, 
My soul shall rise another day. 

Mine eyes shall see, mine ears shall hear, 
A trumpet sounding in mine ear; 
The ancient days are call'd to rise, 
Where Noah and where Abram lies. 

The earth a thousand truths will yield, 
And there the weary will be heal'd ; 
The wicked son that hath been slain, 
With all the just will rise again. 

And every spirit well shall know, 

That God doth govern all below ; 

The blind shall wake, the deaf shall hear, 

A judgment day shall then appear, 

And in the body all shall know, 

That God Almighty rules below. 



August 5th, 1833. 

The heart will break, the rocks will rend, 

The Lord will all the earth offend ; 

The Lord in judgment will appear, 

The passage of the saints is clear. 

The spirit of the dead will rise, 
The eastern sun will light the skies ; 
And those that doth the Lord offend, 
Are hastening to a mournful end. 

The grave before their eyes appear, 
Their ears a doleful sentence hear, 
The soul shall tremble and decay, 
And life take Mings and flee away. 

What is my portion let me know, 
God of my soul that rules below ; 
Shall I be terrified at death, 
Or as a victim yield my breath ? 

Or shall my soul rejoice to hear, 

My passage with the saints is clear ? 

And when I die I shall arise, 

To those that 's harmless, meek and wise. 



152 IMPRESSIONS OF THE mind. 

August 25th, 1833. 
CHAPTER VI. 

The mind of a deity is the beginning of all living ; the sun rose 
in it, in it the moon and stars gave light, in it the fowl flies a ndthe 
fish swims — the plant grows and the tree bears — the Lion roars, and 
the Wolf pursues his prey. What is the whole creation but the 
mind of a deity in existence ? All came from his own heart, and 
man is as one of these, amidst the living. The first prize he should 
obtain or ask of God, is wisdom to know himself, and then proceed 
forward to understand his portion of the deeds of his creator. The 
more wisdom he obtains, the richer he is ; and the more he enjoys 
in his latter days, he is the more independent of the world, and of 
historians that lived before him. I cannot say that I know the man, 
the mind is almost an unbounded circle, nothing but the mind of the 
deity exceeds the bounds of the man. I can relate of those things I 
know ; but the mind can be enlarged, the circle increased, and 
the bounds thereof I cannot tell. The productions of the man is an 
evidence of the mind, and what may proceed from mine I cannot 
tell ; it is of my own I am writing, for it is nearest to rne and is best 
known ; he that giveth a history of his neighbour's mind, and know- 
eth not his own, is like he that spells not knowing letters. The 
mind is the great scale to try all things ; we think we know, and if 
the balance is out of order, we can rightly adjust nothing; because 
our balance is not true. I am resolved my history shall be bounded 
by mine own soul, and not be a shame or reproach to another that 
thinketh he can comprehend my days, and measure them as an 
hand's breadth. My mind did not originate in history ; but history 
came into my mind — it was not hewn out of a rock, nor squared by 
the hands of men ; it originated from the mind of a deity, and from 
some small or limited acquaintance with my parent the deity. He 
kindly reveals to me my form, the nature he hath given me, and the 
disposition of my mind. If it produced nothing, it would never be 
known. If a child learneth the alphabet of a parent, it is evident 
that he is taught, and is an honour to the parent by uttering the few 
syllables he hath obtained from his affectionate friend ; so likewise, 
if I can do a little, it will be an honour to God and accepted of my 
soul, as a testimony of respect to his most sacred name. I believe 
the mind to be a part of the deity, and so I believe by every living 
existence ; for what can we see but a deity in existance when we 
see the whole world ? Let me testify of the merits of my origin, and 
then proceed to relate what he hath revealed. 

It appears by Moses, that sun, moon, and stars were placed in 
heaven before man was born of the dust : and when he was made, 



CII AFTER VI. 153 

he saw the merits of his Creator — they weie made for him to look 
upon, and to give his body light : these have an original as well as 
the human mind. 

Why are we not brethren, that proceed from one God ? Truly 

there is a mutual connection in the whole creation, and I am of the 

same origin as the worst sinner on earth. All were made to adore ; 

but man hath power to refrain. If him that worships God, doth not 

exceed him that worships not, i. e. whose mind is in the original 

capacity of the creation, his deeds are for nothing ; but it is meet 

the parent give light to the child ; for he has a heart or mind given 

of God to be improved. I will now enter on the work and show 

some small benefit arising from subordination to a deity. The tree 

can bear no fruit save that of its own nature ; the apple groweth not 

on the thorn, nor the fig upon the vine — the grape is only subject to 

its own original, the vine, that was appointed to bear them. Man 

bringeth forth after his own kind, and there is not a being under 

heaven of so numerous a production as the heart of man. It is not 

only like the atmosphere, producing both light and darkness, rains 

and scorching suns, but like the earth, that beareth both the bitter 

and the sweet — the thorn, the brier, and the vine. The man is more 

productive than those, and not so limited in his space ; for he is 

capable of receiving from day to day, and God is willing to give them 

that ask him. And this day I write a lesson not known before, 

because the deity hath taught me so, and administered to my soul a 

greater measure of that image of his own. The soul is the Lord's 

if we restore it to thegiver which is his due, after we have had it in 

possession long enough to teach us that without a parent we can do 

no good, neither reveal a deity, nor ourselves to the world ; but he 

hath endowed my heart with a portion of wisdom concerning himself 

and the mind, that proceeded from the bosom of the Lord, and this 

is a book of the mind. But another is committed to my trust, 

concerning the deity, for it is the mind that reveals God to the world. 

I build not on history, nor write from history, but from one of the 

most simple minds in the world. I am like something moving but 

cannot comprehend the impression from whence it came, or tell the 

world why my person is thus in operation to reveal my mind to 

worlds or minds below ; but so it is with me, and if it turns out to be 

an honour to the deity then it will be known that which is now 

a mystery to me. When I am revealed then will I know myself, 

but how can I tell before I know the man. Doth the earth know 

why it bears, or the tree why it produces food for the gatherer? No 

— why may I not be like one of those ? These all reveal the living 

God and why not I ? The earth bears by divine impression, and 

from the word of God the tree bringeth forth her leaves, the flower, 

and the fruit, to feed the living souls of men. I now begin to read 



154 IMPRESSIONS OF THE MIND. 

in the alphabet of my history, for in these things I see the Lord in 
greater perfections than in the hand-writing of men. These things 
are fulfilling their purpose ; but there is a delay in man, which God 
seeketh to come forth, the purpose of creation in the mind. God 
will not be disappointed, he hath ordained and it will come to pass — 
hidden things will be known, and judgment will be brought to light. 
Man shall know he is as on the left hand of God, or on the dark 
side of the question ; because he doth not improve the mind. An 
uncultivated field beareth not the harvest, and an unimproved mind is 
like unto it — man is unacquainted with his own soul. Oh man, take 
me by the hand and walk with me a moment, and I will show thee 
that which is, and that which will be hereafter. 

Behold the vine, ready to bear the blessings of the Lord, the rain 
to descend, the sun to rise, the stars to give thee light, the moon and 
stars to witness for a Redeemer's hand, and show the power of thy 
God. Can thy mind receive these things and be filled with sinful 
thoughts and vain imaginations about the things of God ? No, thou 
must forbear pursuing thine own thoughts, they lead thee into a 
wilderness of darkness, and another seeketh thee and findeth thee 
almost spent, wandering to and fro as a lost sheep, or as flocks 
without a shepherd. God will give thee the creation if thou wilt 
return unto him. Let those lines invite thee home, for thou art 
bewildered in the midst of thy thoughts, and drowning in the imagi- 
nation of thine own mind, — thy balance is out of order, thou can 
adjust nothing rightly, and knowest not why thou wast born into the 
world ; because thou dost not enjoy the Lord. Behold thy mind is 
as the field unimproved. I have been with thee in the desert, and 
come away ; the hand of the Lord found me there, and his voice said 
unto me come away, leave the race of men, and improve the mind — 
the mind is the pillar of the Lord's house and he builds all his works 
on it. The mind of the Deity is the order of life, and he hath given 
us that which is his own, and bid us build thereon. The creation 
beareth all things for our subsistence, — the heavens contain all our 
personal light — the soul beareth the interpretation of God, and the 
mind is his dwelling, and there he reveals himself to man. All 
that we see is not more productive than the mind. My heart 
now bears, that was once as the barren tree — the vine without the 
grape, or the field without the harvest. The Lord hath watered it, 
and it bears the bitter and the sweet, or deep joys and mournful 
sorrow — the fruitful and the barren year — a time of labour and a 
time of rest. The sun giveth his light and then is obscured in the 
cloud as for a winter'3 day. The Lord begineth his works again in 
the mind — the spring cometh forth, the bud appears. I walk alone 
with the impressions of the mind — the flower bursts from the heart as 
the new found spring from the mountain side — the grape appears on 



CHAPTER VI. 155 

the vine, and the heart bears a harvest, and men can gather in and 
be comforted, till they can strew and reap for themselves ; and this 
is a history of the mind. 

Oh God, the spring will never dry, 

Nor shall my soul complain; 
Thou gave my spirit wings to fly, 

And eyes to see thy name. 

The earth doth loudly tell of thee, 

Sun, moon, and stars, declare ; 
Where e'er the dead or living be, 

Thy name's forever thine. 

The sea abounds with praise of thine, 

The billows tell thy love ; 
Thou 'st mark'd their compass with a line, 

And their commands above. 

No soul the billows can control, 

Thine is the earth and sea ; 
And thou commands the living soul, 

And every plant and tree. 

Now we will proceed to the creation in the mind of a Deity as 
being transferable to ours. The globe, and the whole moving 
system, can be in the mind or spirit of God, but not in ours. The 
sense, use, and benefit of the creation can be transferred from the 
mind of God unto us. The sense of the creation giveth cause to 
the soul to magnify the Lord. The pillars of the earth are these in 
the mind, passiveness, obedience, patience and love. The whole 
creation was passive e'er it came into existence ; — obedient, because 
it came at God's command ; patient, because it came forth one part 
at a time, without murmuring against the other ; love, because the 
works of God gave him renown. 

Now we have the pillars, we will try to build a little upward and 
inform the man. Sense has a beginning in us — wisdom and under- 
standing : and thus Moses accounts for the works of God. Our minds 
are darl* in sin, as the atmosphere without the sun, moon, or stars 
therein. Moses saw the sun to rise, (he was not present when the 
pillars of the earth were laid) but when God began to enlighten 
his soul, he was present there, and saw the sun arise as from deep 
waters, and he saw one thing come forth after another, till he received 
the sense and wisdom of the whole world. Moses had no written 
testimony to teach him of the things of God. Moses gave a more 



156 IMPRESSIONS OF THE MOD. 

ample account of himself, than he did of the creation : and his 
writings showeth the bounds of his almost unbounded wisdom. He 
saith the female cometh of the man, because these two are one. I 
believe his writings to be a figure, by which I trust I shall find the 
substance ; not because he hath written, but I will add my testimony 
also to sacred truths he has explained ; for instance, the bone implies 
a part of the man — man being made of the dust implies his spirit 
is given of the spirit of the world, and is a strange sample of all that 
is contained therein. God commanding the sun and moon in their 
course implies that he directs the abilities of the mind ; the sun 
rising at his word tells how light cometh into the mind of those that 
hath sinned, and departed from God. It was a son of Adam that 
wrote this strange history that no man can read. As for the earth 
or sun arising out of deep waters or darkness it is mysterious and 
strange ; but for God to enlighten a dark mind and increase our 
understanding is not marvelous with them that receive, for they are 
present with the Lord, and see how these deeds are done. That 
which discovers to us the use, benefit and purpose of the creation, is 
light, and maketh manifest in the mind, that those things are of God, 
and beyond the abilities of the man. The more we see, the more 
we glorify the builder, and are astonished at his extensive and most 
wonderful works. As wisdom and understanding increases in the 
mind, the creation seems to rise, and all those worlds without are to 
inspire and impress the mind within, to praise the builder; so Moses 
came to a sense of every thing that was created, and begins to 
account for the creation of the world. The use of the world is lost 
from our knowledge in sin ; but wisdom and understanding bringeth 
the worlds to light again, and this is the restoration ofthemanto 
bring him back to what Moses saw, viz., the garden of his creation. 
This is containing the spirit of the world in the mind, and every part 
of the creation in their proper place : and as our hands and feet are 
one workmanship, and both in their proper places, so God restores 
the whole creation to the mind. We do not need all the earth to 
till, to enjoy the world, nor gold to inspire with wisdom ; but we 
want sensibility to know that the spirit of the world is in order in the 
mind. 



August 27th, 1833 



Though the leaf withers and decays, 

Again the bud appears ; 
So is the man inclin'd to praise — 

Sweet music in our ears. 



CHAPTER VI. 157 



The spring flows from the mountain side, 
The plant is fresh and green ; 

Our sorrows doth consume our pride, 
And makes the conscience clean. 



My soul learn at the school of woes, 
The load thy brothers bore ; 

Call on the Lord to still thy foes, 
His love to heal the sore. 



Tis satan's part the heel to bruise, 
He doth not beat in vain ; 

My spirit rise and tell the news, 
That satan beats again. 



The plant ne'er withers nor decays, 
Through gentle showers of rain ; 

The love of God inspires our praise, 
And tunes the harp again. 

A song sublime my heart shall sing, 
Of wisdoms bright decrees ; 

The winter yields a pleasant spring, 
My soul appear like these. 



The tree casts off her spreading leaves, 
By autumn's great command ; 

The limbs doth tremble in the breeze, 
Chills clothe a mournful land. 



All these are wisdom for my soul, 

And clothing to put on ; 
At God's command the leaf doth fall, 

And summer's days are gone. 



153 IMPRESSIONS OF THE MIND. 



October 31st, 1833. 



TO THE MEMORY OF ANNE REID. 



These records were transcribed thus far by a beloved sister, Anne 
Reid. Her virtues were excellent, she walked foremost in the flock ; 
she was a diligent singer, and a wholesome pattern for the young. 
But on the 29th of October, 1833, she deceased, after a short and 
painful illness. She desired death in her best days, as the world 
afforded her but little pleasure. She never inclined to marriage or 
male company as could be discovered. She often said it was her 
place to serve the congregation, and nurse the records of the Church, 
rather than to raise up children in a troubled world. She travelled 
much abroad, spending her hard earned money with a willing mind. 
She cared for the company, and always when able raised the tune in 
worship, abroad, and at home. She walked after our banners in 
York with her sisters a few days before her departure. The last 
time she left her little habitation (which was after she was seized 
with her last illness) was to worship God. She was unable to per- 
form her common service. She has left her seat empty to be la- 
mented forevermore. 

My brethren, mourn with me — my sisters give ear to the words of 
my spirit. 

My sister is no more with the flocks ; she feedeth not with them 
in green pastures. She is no more seen at the tables of the Lord. 
She is no more washing herself with the maidens in the blood of 
sorrow. She hath made her garments clean ; they were white as 
hills of snow. She hath dressed herself, and gone to the wedding ; 
the dead are her guests, and the Son of God her bridegroom, or her 
spirit is alone forever. She has gone to the deceased sisters of her 
love. She is no more in the banqueting place. She was at the head 
of the table on the days of our solemn feasts, and elders crowned 
her head with honour. Her voice is no more heard in the assem- 
blies — her ears are deaf to my calls, — and I am alone. I am as 
one awoke from sleep in a world of affliction. The Lord hath bro- 
ken the staff I leaned upon, and my spirit hath fallen to the ground. 
She mourns in the dust of the earth, and weeps aloud in the solitary 
place, and my mourning is without remedy. Tears is the oil of my 
mind, and my nights pass sorrowfully away. I wander abroad, but 
find her not. I read over her days in the still watches of the night, 
and cry unto the Lord — thou mighty God of Jacob, thou hast troubled 
me, and taken her away that cannot return. 



TO THE MEMORY OF ANNE REID. 159 



This song for her be ever sung, 
By every nation, name and tongue ; 
Her virtues, like the rising day, 
Are clouded, and hath fled away. 

" Record my name my sisters dear, 
And keep me in your mind ; 
Sing o'er my sorrows with a tear, 
. Whene'er this song you find. 

Penn'd by my brother, all my joys 

That 1 had here below, 
Behold how tears o'erflood his eyes, 

His spirit loved me so. 

A solemn part with him I bore, 
His counsels gave me rest; 

But now I see his face no more, 
But know his mind 's distressed. 

May mercy reach his failing eyes, 
From Jacob's God most kind, 

And heaven above renew his joys, 
While he remains behind, 

'T was my delight to ease his breast, 
Whene'er I saw his pain; 

And he his love to me confess'd, 
And gave me love again. 

My virtues were his great delight, 
'T was joy my deeds to see ; 

He lent his hands to lead me right, 
His soul to comfort me. 

But Oh to multiply his pain, 

God took me far away ; 
He ne'er can see my face again, 

Nor my kind deeds repay. 

My soul be ever near his breast, 

While he may here remain ; 
Farewell my brother, I 'm at rest, 



And we shall meet again. 



DAVID WILLSON. 



160 IMPRESSIONS OF THE MOD. 



September 9th, 1833. 



God enlarges the mind as the world was made : that is, one thing 
after another ; and wise Moses carefully distinguishes an evening 
between the days. God increases wisdom and understanding in 
ancient order : that is, part at a time. The writings of Moses are 
to impress the mind as the type in the hand of God ; and him that 
hath received the impression, readeth more than the Scriptures of 
themselves explain. The word of God is as a seed cast into the 
mind by the sower ; it multiplies as we resign, and bringeth forth 
as we are willing to receive. The splendid and the luxurious havo 
the least taste to receive, but to the hungering soul the very sorrows 
of the truth are sweet. These are cross occurrences that come in 
our way for doing justice. The will of God is never true with the 
measures of the earth, but is productive of such reason and justice 
as but few or none have understanding or abilities to deny. Truth 
is the poor man's friend, and God his Creator and Saviour. He 
hath given his word for the salvation of men, and him that receiveth 
it, in the love of it, careth but little about the present distinctions 
that are made in the earth. His friend the truth is in his mind, and 
lights his way through the dark habitations of the earth. Him that 
hath received a spirit of truth hath ever a light before his eyes, and 
seeth where to place his feet, direct his hands, and speak with his 
tongue ; and these are the acting abilities of God committed to our 
trust, and we have not received them without direction how to use 
them. 

God himself hath worked for our example, blessed for our comfort, 
and entered into rest. Moses hath said justly when he said, God 
finished the world, and entered into rest. Nevertheless he is willing 
to educate every mind that is born of a woman and hath existence 
in the body. 

The mind is given of God, but the body is clay, yet apparently a 
father and mother, and the parent of manj T souls. Moses wrote for 
the information of the world. God taketh the type that Moses has 
left on record, and impresses the minds of many. Engraving on a 
stone is a strong impression ; nevertheless, the impressions on the 
mind is not likely to fail in a tempest, or waste away in the shining 
rays of the sun. Stone were the tables prepared for God to write 
upon. He commanded Moses to prepare them : that is to say, every 
man should prepare his heart for the law of the Lord, and he will 
write down his duty in it, and the will of the Lord will not waste 
away. Moses' writings are for impression, for reception, for intelli- 
gence to our friends, (for they were read in Israel,) for salvation to 
the mind. Hence we conceive the first man that sinned was afforded 
the measure of salvation, restoration and peace. 



GOD ENLARGES THE MIND. 161 

The birth of a Saviour in the likeness of a man is the appearance 
of the will of God in the mind. He grew up from small to great, 
increasing in wisdom and understanding ; and here we have a true 
figure of the gift of God to the world. I have now quotations enough 
to evidence the following work, and wish to refrain from them ; I 
only bring them to remembrance to confirm a doubtful mind. Moses' 
writing is but a shadow of the mind ; the substance, the enjoyment, 
and understanding are in the heart. Wisdom is the gates of heaven, 
and few enter into rest through them. We see a busy and a restless 
world, but few we see at peace in it ; the reason is, the mind is not 
with God — the work is not finished — and many are seeking rest 
without the salvation of the soul with God, and never find. Moses 
showeth his extensive understanding, and that there is a pillar of 
rest for man, and that we may see God in peace, for so Moses saw 
the Lord. How could he say he created all these things and entered 
into rest, except the mind of Moses followed him in the work of cre- 
tion, and saw the end of man? Moses saw all these things, and 
also prophecied of what would come after him ; but he set no bounds 
to the wisdom of God, but hath only revealed to the world the mea- 
sures of the man, or wrote his own on paper for a testimony of the 
most high God. 

God worked not in darkness saith Moses the evangelist of the cre- 
ation ; the first appearance was light. Oh what a true figure of a 
dark mind when we have sinned ! Without the word of God we can 
do nothing— this is the light of the world. Adam could not see to 
make his own apron, and worked by guess, and missed the mark, 
and God had to clothe him as a child whom he had made naked. 
Oh what deprivation of abilities ! Oh what darkness sin bringeth 
upon us ! diminishing our understanding, and puts our light of inno- 
cence quite out. But God hath promised to recover and restore. 
Then let me and all my earthly-minded brethren receive the means — 
alight from the mercies of God to work by ; for so he hath done by 
himself when he created the worlds, and hath given wisdom thereof 
to the mind. How could Moses discover the works of God, and 
what he did at a time, was it not for this light set in the firmament 
of heaven ? Moses maketh use of these things to increase the under- 
standing of his brethren. 

The sun is but a figure of God's grace ; and God gave grace to 
the heart of Moses, and then by and through this light revealed the 
world to him, and heaven above, where God is at rest. I now begin 
my own testimony : — I have known my mind to be as dark to the 
revelation of God, or the understanding of his revealed will, as the 
firmament was before the sun arose in it. A history of the world is 
no salvation to man, but the knowledge of himself completes the mind ; 
fills up the measure of God in the soul, and his spirit is at rest in it. 

L 



162 IMPRESSIONS OF THE MIND. 

The worlds came into existence by passiveness and obedience— ^so 
doth God do his work in the mind. My abilities cometh forth one 
after another as the worlds were made, and when I see these 
things, I see as Moses saw, and am confirmed he spake the truth, 
and wrote of God to increase my faith and enlarge my understanding. 
He whose heart is illuminated by the light of grace, is as a man 
walking in darkness with a lamp before his eyes, without which he 
can seo nothing to his own satisfaction, or is worthy of revelation to 
his brethren ; but the lamp is as light to his eyes, oil to bis tongue, 
direction for his feet, and the ornament of his hands. And when he 
hath travelled a great way alone, comparative to the life of Moses 
before he wrote, he finds the hand writing of Moses by the way-side, 
and he readeth it in the light of the sun or the Spirit of God, which is 
as the lamp before him, and he seeth that his servant Moses travel- 
led that way before him, and left these marks to comfort the weary, 
lest humanity should faint and stop short of the blessing. He hath 
not said stop when we have made this divine discovery, for he has 
prophesied there is somewhat yet to come ; but when we have seen 
as he saw, pursue on in pursuit of these things, he declares to the 
world, till we see God at rest in the soul as his servant Moses saw 
him in heaven ; and then we are but fit and capable to walk alone 
without a staff from Moses or the Prophets to lean upon, or any other 
laborious servant that hath toiled on earth to strengthen his weak- 
ened brother man. We hereafter begin to see for ourselves, and 
advance beyond what others have done for us, fulfilling their mea- 
sure given, and in peace they pass away. But we close not the 
path to younger travellers, nor put out the light that others have 
lighted, but bless them as the works of God, our witness on the way 
to heaven. There is but one way for all men, and that is revealed 
by Moses and the Prophets, justified of God, practised by his Son, 
find blessed in worlds below. We travel forward a? is above writ- 
ten, into a desert where none hath been — here we must work alone 
by faith, as Israel in the wilderness, when kings and nations could 
not direct their way ; my soul knoweth these things, and I am bound 
(for favors received) to give honor to Moses and the Prophets for 
ever, for I found them in the way to God, and David, Israel's king, 
in the midst of them. Now, if the saints of old hath quoted too Moses 
and the Prophets to prove their experience right, why may not my poor 
soul, of latter days, in the like manner ? If the latter saints, the sons of 
the New Testament, hath called on the name of Moses and Abraham 
with David and the Prophets, to prove the truth and authenticity of 
the Gospel, why not I to prove the experience of my mind ? Though 
I were at peace with God, I am only restored from whence I came, it 
is not to say my life is fulfilled, but only my debt is paid. I have 
atoned to God or repented for transgressions I have committed. 



CHAPTER VII. 163 

Now begins the life that God directs in the soul : — Shall we not 
see temptation in the wilderness ? The Son of God saw and fought 
alone, and won a victory over my foe. Shall I not make use of his 
name till I win the prize, and tell my human desire it is wrong for my 
limbs to obey ? they are consigned to God, and for his purpose they 
were made and created. If I obtain the prize I praise none but 
God alone — 'it is done by his word, by which we read and see and 
understand, and the mind begins to increase in wisdom and under- 
standing, and one day's work after another is revealed to us all our 
life long, till we come to the final end, and see the works of God 
done in the soul, life fulfilled, and the mind fitted for heaven and the 
body for the tomb. So fulfil my days, my Saviour and my God. 

When e'er the sun begins to rise, 

Then more and more I'll sacrifice, 
The higher I shall plainly see, 

The will of God wrote down in me. 

God is my trust, God is my care, 

He bids my feet to enter there, 
Where mornings cease and evenings die, 

Because the soul doth rise so high. 

Oh, earth ! thy measures all farewell, 
My soul of God his truths can tell, 

And of his blessings here below, 
Of victory and a conquered foe. 

The throne whereon his spirits rest, 
The saint and son in garments drest, 

Unspotted while their robes appear, 
As sun and stars for ever clear. 



September 25th, 1833. 

CHAPTER VII. 

What is the mind? is a question hard to answer or give a full 
reply to ; we can hear of a city and by faith received by hearing, set 
out on the journey and travel to it. The city we cannot fully see 
till we enter through the gates into the city ; and see the walls 
around that defend the city, and keep men out of it. God keeps 
the keys of the mind, to whom he reveals seeth the city, and to 
whom he revealeth not, cannot see through the walls ; so the mind 
is inclosed with a mysterious veil that none can rend but God alone. 
He that seeth the mind, seeth the city of the most high God, and the 
deity in the midst of it. All things serve the Lord at all times, and 
13 



164 IMPRESSIONS OF THE MIND. 

there is no getting beyond the measures of our God. What is sin? 
It is the want of improvement. You may as well tell me the dove 
can swim under water, or fly without wings, as to tell me that ever 
man walked where there was no way, or acted without the inspiration 
of God. This argument leadeth us on to ask the question — what is 
God ? He that knoweth not the mind cannot tell ; but he that enter- 
eth through the gates into the city, can give a history both of God 
and the mind. What the deity was Moses left untold ; only that he 
was a spirit, and naturally speaking is not seen with the human eyes. 
He directs the world of mankind to behold his works, and as the 
deeds of the man give us knowledge of his heart, so doth the whole 
world of the spirit of God. The deity is the spirit of all living, he is 
clothed with the flower, and with the grass, as perfectly as with the 
man — as perfect in the Lion as in the Lamb — as in the Eagle so in 
the dove — the fish — all animate or inanimate being. Now tell me 
if it is possible for the thorn or thistle to grow without the inspiration 
of God's spirit. If you think so, create those things for yourselves 
in gardens or fields, or invent a plant that never yet hath been — or 
bring the dry tree to bearing, and then human reason will stand. 
There never was a fish that did swim in the sea, or tree that grew in 
the field, but by the inspiration of God, and it is his spirit that sup- 
ports all existence, and is the order of life. Every thing received 
their nature from God ; and what is man but as one of those whom 
God has made. If he has sinned, the very event is to learn him 
wisdom. Did man ever act by a nature that was not in himself? No, 
no more than the dove can fly without wings, or the lion take his 
prey without the wisdom of God. Then God is life and thought, 
and what we see is the spirit of the mind brought into action, and this 
is the spirit of God revealed as when he created the world. From 
whence did the bitter herb receive virtue ? From the spirit of God. 
From whence doth the Bee gather honey, but from the flower that 
God hath commanded to yield her food? Now what is man? He 
is as the plant of the field — a tree of the wood, or a supreme over the 
animal creation. Why ? Because he hath more talent given him, 
and more is required of him ; and man should reveal himself to man 
as the father should provide bread for the child. He that knoweth 
himself, knoweth the deity, as well as he knoweth how he entereth 
through the gates into the city, and that it is by permission, and so 
God permits man to come to a knowledge of himself. 

Sin is a great stumbling stone in the world, and priests gather 
great wages for endeavouring to move this stone out of the way. 
They are like doctors giving medicine to the sick, that prevail not— 
it is the nature of man, and in every human creature by the appoint- 
ment of God, and we cannot remove. But when we tire in this 
practice, God can give us another: and sin is of bad consequences, 



CHAPTER VII. 165 

for it darkens and troubles the mind ; and he that knoweth it, hath an 
introduction to an improvement. And, who can say that he hath 
sinned, and thereby hath not come to a sense there is a better way? 
and the purpose of these lower kingdoms and the trouble of them is 
to teach the the man that we are frail, and cry mightily for the 
superior abilities of our God, so we fulfil the first lessons of life, and 
pass on our way. And when we reach the city, we see that God is 
in all our deeds of life, and is acting in every creature ; and a com- 
position of all is the mind, and God within the bounds of the City, 
moving the limbs or the bodies of men by the impressions of the mind. 
Individual objects may take the whole heart astray, like the fruit 
our father eat, and disquiet the whole mind. But there is no peace 
without the knowledge of God, for man was made to know his Creator, 
and it is all he thirsts for since the pillars of the earth were laid. 
Our father sought to find him in the fruit — some in women, some in 
wine, some in lands and in gold — but he is not in these only by 
parts ; and the first man found the fruit bitter that sought for sweet : 
and herein is the experience of the man. So he cometh to the sense 
of the herb, the honey and the gall, and all these do not suffice, till 
he seeth every thing or every part in its place, according to its 
decreed or appointed purpose, and this it is that completes the salva- 
tion of the man, his mind is in order, and he knoweth the worlds 
move by the impressions of God. 

How can my soul attempt to sing, 

Or how can I forbear ; 
For God is in the angel's wing, 

And life and spirit there. 

The dove flits round his holy throne, 

Oh what's an angel's name? 
To men unseen, to God they're known, 

From him all spirit came. 

Angels are these that come and go, 

Impressions of the mind ; 
And some of these are bitter woe, 

With some sweet food we find. 

There 's no deception in their wings, 

They fly at God's command ; 
They visit priests, and visit kings, 

And curse and bless our land. 

God willeth not that we should remain in sin, for he that remaineth 
in sin dwelleth in the city of ignorance, and a cloud of darkness 
hangeth over his habitation, and he knoweth not what he doeth. If 
12 



166 IMPRESSIONS OF THE MIND. 

by sin we fulfil the first lessons of life, by righteousness we fill the 
last, and these are the events of man. In all these changes we know 
the Lord. When we come to a knowledge of self, we know what 
we are, and that heaven and hell are impressions of the mind and 
rule over us, and that God governs the world by these. Because of 
hell we fear God ; and because of heaven we love him ; and who 
can say he is not in all our deeds of life 1 As ore is cast into the 
furnace, the soul is cast into affliction, to soften the mind that we 
may be remoulded into the more glorious abilities of our God. 

If God in the first place hath made us subject to temptation, he 
hath in the second place made us subject to righteousness. And 
affliction is for a great and glorious purpose in the mind : it subdues 
our lesser or brutal propensities, and makes way for the more glorious 
abilities of God to act in us. As by the deeds of the mind, the Deity 
is glorified ; he is not willing to leave us in this low station, that 
doth no honour to a Creator in the eyes of an enlightened mind. — 
He therefore softens us in affliction, reforms the mind, and giveth 
us new clothing as often as the summer tree doth change her leaves. 
Though every garment is received from the same giver ; yet every 
change increaseth the glory of God, as doth the spring his smiles 
from heaven. 



THE FALL OF MAN AND RISE TO RIGHTEOUSNESS. 

All men fall into sin by nature — that is, there is a nature or spirit 
in us that leadeth us that way, and another that leadeth us to forsake 
our sins and live a justified life. It is evident that God desireth a 
change, and requireth righteousness ; this is being equal with God — 
that is to say, perfectly fulfilling his commands. This fall is mys- 
terious, yet plain. When we have arisen from the dead — that is, 
where we are closed up in conviction, as the body in the grave, it is 
where we cannot reason for ourselves, but own our sins, confess 
our guilt, and resign to the powers above. Here temptation dieth, 
and hell becomes alive in the soul, and the flame encompasseth the 
whole mind. This is an impression of the most high God, and is 
perfectly his command, as that ever the sun should rise out of dark- 
ness. No reasoning of our father Adam could cease the convicting 
flame. The Deity was not to be overcome ; he had designed 
experience for the mind, and determined that men should drink of 
it. Him that falleth is at a school of woes, but he needeth a master 
to teach him how to read the lesson ; for many are afflicted without 
the intended purpose, which is to humble the mind. God would 
walk before us all our life long, if we were humble enough to hear 
his word, and obey his command. The very purposes of sin are to 
soften the heart and humble the mind. What foolish and afflicted 



CHAPTER VII. 167 

creature can say he hath no need of a reformation ? if so, he is 
foolish to an extreme ; struggling in his chains without hope or relief. 
Hell is the vengeance of God, and will soften the hardest heart, 
and the most reprobate mind. The priests should reveal all these 
things to the world, that the afflicted should be patient in tribulation, 
for it is the purpose of our grief: God wants a heart refined in the 
furnance, as when he began the world, and then he will make some- 
thing of us ; but while we devise our footsteps by these low abilities, 
we fulfil not the purpose of our creation ; and a mightier hand than 
ours is ever laying a stone in our way ; and the world will walk and 
stumble till men are convinced of themselves they can do nothing — 
that is, they cannot build a tower to reach to rest, nor such a ladder 
as Jacob saw, (the path of angels from heaven to earth, and from 
earth to heaven.) The fall is human, but God is the builder of the 
propensities by which we fall. He hath connected all these things 
in the mind of the man, and he must, in some indirect way or mys- 
terious impression, be both the author of the fall and the rise of the 
human will ; for this is the whole guidance of life. The will teach- 
eth us to fall, and like a child falling into a pit, the will weepeth in 
us; but if a merciful parent dravveth us upward from the burning, 
it is the will of the mind to shun that slippery way by which we are 
taken in the snare, and God has bid us do what he knoweth we are 
disposed not to fulfill ; and so all men fall into hell. We must 
return to the law of the Lord for salvation, for this law we left be- 
hind us when we set out on the journey alone ; acting by the first 
propensities of God in the soul — or the abilities of a child's mind. 
And here ends my book of the soul, or history of the mind. 

Long in the secret courts to dwell 

Hath been my lot alone ; 
But I stand in the door and tell 

What long hath been unknown. 

Worlds at a distance now may rise, 

As Moses hath foretold ; 
And lights sublime may light the skies, 

Like days that were of old. 

The sun may rise that lights the mind, 

And to all nations shine ; 
And I may peace and safety find 

Amidst this soul of mine. 

Farewell, historians all, adieu ! 

Your goodness to fulfill, 
I must come up and walk with you, 

And write my Saviour's will, 



108 . IMPRESSIONS OF THE MIND. 



September 28th, 1833. 



No. I. 

The following chapters are a history of the house of the Lord, 
the world, and the creationof it. They are observations that I have 
made in my travels through the mind. 

As a man writeth of a distant country, so my soul doth write of 
these. The spirit of truth hath been with me and speaketh no lie. 
I have not been idle on the pilgrimage ; I have placed my feet in 
haste, and got myself ready to discover to the world the being of a 
God, his habitation, and the work of his hands. 

I was like a worm asleep in dust or ashes, but the spirit of truth 
said unto me, Arise. The word of the Lord spake in mine ears as 
with a trumpet of quickening power. I could not excuse for want 
of literary skill, nor offer my poverty in life an atonement for my 
guilt. I saw that I was clothed with sin, and must go down to the 
baptizing place ; (my body was not plunged in water,) but my soul 
in affliction. Of this baptism I can give some relation ; but of water 
I know none, because I have not received it. The Lord became a 
father to my spirit, and led me behind the backs of men into the 
wilderness, and instructed me alone in the school of affliction ; and 
truly the Lord talked with me in hell, and translated my spirit into a 
momentary heaven, where I could see the saints, David and the 
prophets, with other patriarchs in Israel. I saw the days of Abram ; 
for truly I was alone, and the Spirit of the Lord talked with me : he 
set a seal upon my lips, and forbid my communication with men 
about religion and the things of God. His voice was with power, 
and I obeyed the visions of the mind. He soon began to declare 
unto me of things to come; and as I grew humble in affliction, the 
spirit of truth grew up in me, and I saw that I was in the Lord's 
house, and all his sons of old were in it. 1 saw God and Christ to 
be a light to the world ; and my soul rejoiced in God my Redeemer. 
My spirit took courage, my belief increased in the revelation of 
God ; and I began to act by faith as did Abram my father — (spi- 
ritually so, for I am not of the blood of Abraham, though no blood 
is dearer to me than his.) Sectarians of our age began to stone 
me, and the archers let fly their arrows by no small measure, and I 
began to cry like a child chastised with a rod ; but I saw the hand 
of the Lord was in all this, and that the gates were closed up behind 
me, and that I must only receive these stripes as the chastisements 
of his will. I pressed forward against the storm, and saw the cloud 
give way, darkness rent in twain, and I saw my passage clear, and 
that nothing could stand before the Lord nor conquer the truth. 



HISTORY OF THE HOUSE OF THE LORD. 160 

I am now getting my little book ready for the world, and kings 
and princes may look therein, and lords and dukes deny, but it is 
the hand of the Lord spread abroad from the bosom, or the mind. 

This world is the house of the Lord, but the mind is his secret 
dwelling. I write from the mind and the penetration of thought 
with which my mind is impressed, and the spirit of truth hath shewn 
me many things to be revealed. I am a great admirer and lover of 
the works of God, according to my small measure. Those that hath 
seen more can reveal more ; I am only accountable to God for that 
which I have received. 

Moses and the prophets hath great place in my mind, or beareth 
much weight on my spirit. I see their days glorious, and a portion 
of their spirit in me. Every herb, plant, and tree declares the work 
of the builder's hand ; and if I only appear as the thistle by the rose, 
I will not deny the maker's hand: I will show my form unto men, 
for the Lord hath done this. 

My best days are to be resigned ; for then I am fit for the builder's 
purpose, and he may make of me what he will. So I am trusting 
he will guide my hand through this work and bring me to a glorious 
end : that is, to praise God for his mercies and be at peace, and 
princes and potentates can rise no higher. I covet no throne here 
below, nor any part of the earth to be my footstool. God hath cre- 
ated the world equal ; and this will be the end of controversy and 
the fall of kingdoms, — the long captivated Jews will rise into domin- 
ion, and fulfil the days that the prophets and Christ hath desired. 
Their prayers were the will of God, and will be fulfilled. The lights 
of the world proceeded from the Jews, and they will not be cast away. 
The Lord hath kept them distinct to show his name in them. He 
will give them a land and they will be a people, excelling in wisdom, 
for a time, till the rest of the world shall fulfil their measures ; after 
which all nations will be as one, and Ishmael united to the house of 
Abram again. Abram is a pillar in the Lord's house ; he will not 
remove. No new dispensation hath been that hath darkened the 
light of his days, nor ever will. The lights of the world sprang 
from the loins of Abram, and his good name will never fail under 
heaven. I am not afraid to speak of things to come, because I have 
seen the glory of the Lord in years that are past in fulfilling pro- 
phetic sayings that were whispered in mine ears. I do not say I 
am a prophet, but that a prophet hath spoken to me. I believe it to 
be one of the spirits of ancient days that dwells with God, and whis- 
pers in mine ears. They are all in the house of the Lord, and are 
spirits at his command. It is declared they shall rise again, with all 
the rest of the world. Then the Jews will rise to their former sta- 
tion, that is, to believe in God and truths that are revealed unto 
them ; and as I have written unto them, I shall not prolong their 



170 IMPRESSIONS OF THE MIND. 

name or character in this work, but in due time give them that 
which is their own, and lines that God hath given. It taketh time 
to evince truths. I must only strew these lines as seeds in the earth, 
(from my small habitation in the wilderness of Upper Canada,) and 
as the husbandman or cultivator trust to the growth of them, or whe- 
ther they have place in the mind of this world or not, I know that 
I have found what I cannot deny, and seen that which I dare not 
conceal. 

The Lord is present every where ; why not with me, a lonesome 
inhabitant of the wilderness? The ends of the world are not forgot- 
ten, the poor widow, nor the fatherless child. Who can blame the 
Deity for showing mercy to my soul ? He hath shewn me the inner 
courts of his house, and is now leading me out to see the world, 
show me the flowers of the field, the hllies, and all his wondrous 
work that is comprehensible by the mind of a man. He showeth 
me his likeness in all things that he hath created, and that he en- 
lightened the mind of Moses his servant, and then hath shewn unto 
him the world, and man that he hath made, and of his disposition. 
Nothing is more true than this that the mind of Moses must have 
been, and now is, a store-house of the wisdom of God. He fed his 
people from the mind of Moses ; and I have read many sacred les- 
sons there, by the light of the sun, that lights the mind. This is the 
sun that Moses saw rise out of darkness, or a sinner's mind. 

The plant showeth the form of God, as perfect as the man. He 
is not deformed in his work. He is governor in his own house, and 
orders life as he will. That man can do any thing but by permission 
of God is impossible, and that he can reap a reward that is not de- 
signed is presumption to believe. The hand of God is in all hts 
works — as perfect in the thistle as in the rose, and glorious in all the 
works of his hand. His voice is heard in hell as perfect as in hea- 
ven, and he is life in the brute as perfect as he is in the man ; and 
these forms are the purposes of God, and are made to glorify his 
name : but man is accountable to God for all he sees, and is debtor 
for all his works, to give him praise for all he has done. In order 
to prepare the heart for such an office, we must walk abroad in the 
hand of the Lord, and behold his works through the revelation of his 
will. Such favours as these inspire the heart to praise, when we 
see him in the brute and in the flower ; when we taste him in the 
fruit, or see him ripening on the tree ; when we see him spread in 
the leaves, grow in the grass, and ornament the field ; when we see 
him to ride upon the cloud, and know him to be swifter than the 
wind ; when we hear him in the thunder, and fear him in the light- 
ning of the sky ; when his voice sounds in the billow, and his life is 
hid in deep waters ; when he nourishes in the plant, and feeds in 
the animal of the field ; when he fleeth in the desert, and clothes 



HISTOKY OF THE HOUSE OF THE LORD. 171 

himself with the wood ; when he rises on wings, and showeth him- 
self abroad ; when we fear him in the terrors of the storm, and 
when he is clothed with the night ; when he speaketh from the wave, 
and defieth the world to command the seas ; when he standeth on 
the mountain, and bids the vallies behold his superior form. All 
these are my God, and the clothing of the Almighty, whose name 
I dread and fear; my preserver from sin, and the sole comfort of my 
days. 

Let each created being sing, 
The fowl that fly, the creeping thing ; 
For man alone is one of these, 
Hath but his portion — his decrees. 

How can the soul presume to boast, 
That was in woods and waters lost? 
Or as the worm amidst the dust, 
Knew not his God in whom to trust ? 

My soul, by mercy thou arose, 
And as the worm or lilly grows, 
Thou art a plant arose from dust, 
And saw a God in whom to trust. 

Sublimest praise is his reward, 
Thou art but dust and he is Lord ; 
All thou receives to thee is given, 
Of earth or sea, of hell or heaven. 

God is as perfect in the infant child as in the greatest artist. Earth, 
air. or sea hath nothing to boast, — the vallies nor the hills. God's 
perfections are as great in the insect as the elephant, — in the valley 
as in the hill. The creation is equally blest and each part for the 
purpose it was created. 

God is as perfect in the lion as in the dove ; and he is not distinct 
in these, but is connected in the whole, and one original is the spirit 
of all being. 

His measures are as bright in Moses as in the Son of God. Grace 
and law are the gifts of one God, and man hath nothing to boast 
since the pillars of the earth were laid. Each were appointed for 
their purpose, and hath found their course to run. If hell is in our 
way, a mightier hand than ours hath placed it there, and we cannot 
remove. If heaven is appointed for our rest, there is a way pre- 
pared to receive the blessing ; sinners only delay their passage home. 
The worlds were created in peace, without controversy, and worthy 
of a blessing. When the worlds were blessed, man was also blessed ; 
tie was cursed with affliction that he might perfect his blessing, know 



172 IMTRESSIONS OF THE MIND. 

the goodness of his God, and he at peace. The blessings and afflic- 
tions of God are talents worthy of improvement. We cannot tell 
the depth of a water till we fathom to the bottom, and then measure 
the line. We cannot tell the goodness of God till we improve his 
blessing, and reap the harvest from a field of joys. The rivers hold 
their contents, and the seas the same. Every mind is full that serves 
the Lord ; by joy and affliction he enables us to choose the paths of 
wisdom. We would not know that vinegar was sour did we not par- 
take of it, nor that gall is bitter ; but so the Son of God came to the 
experience of life. A servant in the days of Moses was as fully 
justified as in the days of Christ; and there is but one God to bless 
and curse the earth. 

Oh pity him that is so poor, 
He knows not where to find a cure ; 
Oh pity him that's so distress'd, 
That cannot find the way to rest. 

Oh pity him that doth not know 
That man is to himself a foe ; 
Oh pity him that ever flees, 
From fruitful to the barren trees. 

Oh pity the exalted, proud, 

For darkness clothes them with a cloud ; 

Oh pity these that truth despise, 

For God 's forbid their souls to rise. 



October 21st, 1833. 

The creation is made to suffer according to the appointments of 
the builder ; he is in every thing that is made, and man is a distinct 
spectator of his deeds. There is no Life but one — he is the same 
undivided God in all things. There is no living existence but the 
Deity — he changes his garments in death, and clothes himself again, 
and is for ever. The grass withers at his departure, the flower 
decays, and the tree ceases to bear — the bride is left with the dead 
body of her bridegroom, he sleepeth, and none can wake him out of 
his sleep — the child giveth up the mother, and the husband the wife, 
he stands as one defenceless in the day of battle, the Almighty, is 
too strong for him. Were these things not the appointments of 
God and the purposes of the creation, they could be prevented ; but 
it is not in the power of man or beast to save his own life, he must 



THE CREATION IS MADE TO SUFFER. 173 

fulfil the decrees of the Maker. God hath not seen it good in his 
pleasure that life should remain in bodily existence, save the earth ; 
she bringeth forth for ever, she is as the bride of the Almighty, she 
conceiveth of God in the creation of the world, or when the earth 
came into existence, (that is, where we see the purposes of it,) and 
bringeth forth the herb and the tree, supporteth the fowl, the fish, 
the brute, and every bitter and sweet below the sun. The species 
flow from her bosom, and the refreshing air is the breath of her 
heart ; not the mist of the earth, but the Spirit of God ; he sweet- 
ens the air with the spices of her garden, and bids my soul to 
behold her deeds. He sendeth rain upon the fields and bringeth forth 
the harvest. His own life exists upon the plant of the field, for 
without this we perish. 

What is sin 1 Let me know thou great, all-wise and wondrous 
God. It is sin, not to go to the school of education where God 
showeth man his abilities, and the volumes of nature are open before 
him. Lord, lead me there, and I will be with thee, and be taught of 
God, and distrust man (who fadeth as a leaf,) for evermore. Be- 
hold the earth, she is full of my glory, she is clothed with the sun, 
changeth her garments as the moon, and as a mother of all living, 
she receiveth a blessing from God, and is one of the most divine 
blessings to man that ever he can enjoy. The glory of the earth, 
the sun, moon and stars, the sea and what is contained in it, fills the 
mind of the man, as the atmosphere is filled with the work or deeds 
of God, and the mind rejoices in the deeds of the Creator. More 
extensively speaking, the incomes of the earth bless the mind, and 
inspire the thoughts to praise the builder. It is not having much 
in our care that increases knowledge ; by partially looking on that 
small dust we call our own, too often blinds our eyes from a more ex- 
tensive knowledge of the deeds of God. God is the master of his own] 
scholars, and them that come to him. These things that I am writing 
is what his Son Jesus, that great Prophet, hath in store to give them 
that cometh to his Father. He is a steward of his grace in heaven, 
that is, where the mind is reconciled to the judgments and mercies of 
God. I wish the world knew the Lord as I know him, and more so. 
I care nothing for riches, but am forbidden to waste. I thirst after 
no crown or country, but my heart is not satisfied ; I thirst for wis- 
dom, and as the panting soul, I know not the extent of my mind, nor 
when it will be filled, for this thirst is not quenched, neither doth my 
desire abate. I am at peace with God, and esteem trouble, however 
bitter, to be a blessing to the mind, for sorrow is part of God, and a 
gift to the mind. When do we know God more perfectly that when 
we are sorrowful, and then to know our sorrows to abate ? We know 
him in sickness and in health, in sorrow and in joy, in the bitter and 
in the sweet, in life and in death ; and this is due to God, a blessing 



174 IMPRESSIONS OF THE MIND, 

for his revelation ; for in all we taste, see, or smell, the Lord reveals 
himself to man. Death is unavoidable, but life is for ever. God 
diminisheth not in death, neither doth he increase in life, he is what 
he was, and evermore will be, the life of all things under the sun ; 
in the angel and in the saint, in the rich and in the poor, he is one 
unchanging God. 

Let not my thoughts presume to sing, 

Where there 's no stranger nigh ; 
But still revealing God my King 

On whom I do rely. 

Unto what shall we compare the world but the Deity, and with 
what shall we compare the Deity but with all we see and hear. 
Man is but a small portion of his image : all things created are as 
perfectly his likeness as the man ; man is said to be his likeness 
because he exceedeth all in wisdom, understanding, and workman- 
ship, save God his master. There is not a thing or being that lives 
and moves but is a perfect form of the Creator ; there is nothing 
green or dry but sheweth us the likeness of God. When we behold 
the workman we see his arts and ingenuity are the lines of his hand ; 
in all this I see the builder, for man without the Deity is clay, and 
senseless as the dust. 

My song begins with trouble here, 

For this invites to move ; 
The soul encouraged with fear, 

And thus we life improve. 

Oh life is God within the soul, 

The soul is life likewise, 
As billow after billow roll, 

God doth the earth chastise. 

'Tis life that feels the piercing rod, 

And life is given to know, 
That life is spirit and is God, 

And God 's in worlds below. 

W 7 ho bids my senses all to feel, 

But life's chastizing hand ? 
Who seals up life, and breaks the seal, 

But life's unknown command. 

God from the earth none can divide, 
Nor part him from the sea; 



THE CREATION IS MADE TO SUFFER. 173 

Sinners through shame and darkness hide, 
From things they all might see. 

There 's not a leaf that ' s spread in vain, 

Nor cloud obscures the skies, 
For there I see my maker's name, 

And these that make me wise. 

I will write down the paths of sin, and the way that leads from 
the knowledge of God. We do not sin with the endowments of the 
fear of the Lord, but when the Lord is hidden from our eyes, then 
are we bold to sin. We do not sin through the remembrance of his 
judgments, but when we have forgetten the chastising hand of God. 
Will not the Lord chastise till we fear, and afflict till we remember 
his judgments? Then shall we live as though God was present 
with us, and know his mercies. 

The enjoyment of forbidden fruit is stolen pleasure, for which we 
suller like criminals in the day of judgment. God hath not created 
any thing but we may know ; but we must first fear him, and then 
we walk uprightly with the Lord. Sin is the mind running without 
a guide ;„we soon find the fetters or get fast in the snare ; but as we 
walked in the darkness we know not the way we came, and we 
ascribe the cause to every thing but that which is just, and that is 
hidden from our eyes ; so the world of men suffer in sorrow, and 
cannot account for the cause of it. 

We are unwilling to own our own crimes, or to tell our brethren 
how weak we are. The forbidden tree was planted to know : it is 
nothing short of the life of God, for he hath perfect knowledge of 
good and ill ; but man hath not this knowledge till he knows his 
Creator, and that is never till he will reveal himself to man. What 
our father partook of was the knowledge of evil, and he was ignorant 
of the use of the tree after partaking the fruit of it. 

We are permitted to do what we are not commanded to do : we fall 
into hell through our own abilities — we learn a sad lesson there, the 
want of direction. If a righteous man receiveth trouble at the hand 
of God he knoweth it is to make him more clean, or to increase the 
experience of the mind, he knoweth that God doeth it, and that it is 
not the event of his own sins. What a distinguishing difference in 
distress — the one increaseth in wisdom, and the other getteth angry 
with folly, and curseth men for his pains, that is more clear of them 
than God in heaven ; this is darkness and the deeds of it. He that 
walketh with the Lord is baptized in season, and when the mind is 
ready God walketh with him in baptism, and reveals to him these 
truths that are not otherwise known, and he increases in the wisdom 
of the Lord, while the other darkens into despair and gives up 
the ghost. 



176 I3IPEESSI0NS OF THE MIND. 

This is death to sin, but we can renew our affliction by a repetition 
of our crimes, and so live sinning and suffering all our days, and 
know no more about God and the creation than we know whether the 
bottom of the sea is black or white. Come with me, afflicted sinner, 
I will show thee the paths of life, for these are given me to reveal to 
my brethren, Adam's children. The way to heaven is a path of 
affliction, affliction increases fear, and fear forbids to sin ; these foot- 
steps are right, and none will reveal them more plainly to the world 
than my spirit — affliction is the knowledge of God. I am one of the 
sinful sons of Adam, and know there is sorrow for sin and affliction 
without crime, for it pleases God to afflict his own, to keep them in 
safety, multiply their understanding, increase experience, and show 
forth wisdom from the regions of the dead, that is, where the sinner 
lieth in chains, without a word of utterance for his God, or a syllable 
of doctrine for the souls of men. These are the paths of life that 
lead from where the captivated dead doth lie to the knowledge of 
God — this is a solemn lesson to learn, i. e. to be reconciled to afflic- 
tion, that is not to say we shall not groan nor feel the stripes of the 
chastizing hand, but we show ourselves men when we complain not 
in trouble, speak against God, nor envy men : in this I am wanting. 
It is this lesson that completes the pilgrimage of life. When we 
become reconciled to judgments the sacred flame doth abate. Learn 
my soul to feel the rod and not complain, for this is heaven itself; we 
are then passing through the gates into the city, and are the lawful 
heirs of life. Him that feareth God ceaseth to sin, and this is the 
wisest stand that ever mortal man hath made in all his days. Let us 
make proper use of affliction, and improve her as a field or a garden ; 
she hath been as the spouse or bride to my mind, and if I know any 
thing rightly, I was taught that same lesson in the school of affliction, 
where God is master of his own, and conquers the mind of man by 
the chastisement of his hand. I am the heir of his mercies according 
to my affliction ; I bought them in the flames of hell, I sold them for 
nothing, and have bought them at a price. 

Oh brother rest with me awhile, 

And learn with me to sing, 
When e'er we 're thirsty with our toil, 

We'll find a living spring. 

W 7 hen e'er we 're tired with the fruit, 

We will the tree despise ; 
Nor will we with our God dispute, 

When he doth long chastise. 

We'll drink his mercies and be still, 
The draught will make us strong, 



THE CREATION AN EVIDENCE OF THE DEITY. IT 

Both sweet and bitter is his will, — 
We'll note them in our song. 

We'll rise again, our strength renew, 

Our hope we'll fondly cheer, 
We'll reap right well for what we do, 

For heaven and God is near. 



November 23d, 1833. 

The creation is an indisputable evidence that there is a Deity ; 
and the most sublime use of the creation to the immortal spirit is, to 
give hope to the mind. As for its temporal purposes it only exists 
the person, till the soul or mind in this mortal or decaying frame, 
works a peace or salvation for itself. The deeds of the body produce 
a good effect to the mind ; and when the soul hath fulfilled her ap- 
pointed purposes, and is ready to return to God for an eternal recom- 
pence, she is willing to part with the body as being no more useful 
to the mind. And sometimes life becomes a burden to the righteous, 
and they stay longer in the body than the soul desires. But to prove 
that the Deity works a perfect submission in the mind of his people, 
we have to bear the burden till he cuts the thread of life, and divides 
soul and body apart, by the same hand that connected them together. 
The body may suffer pain, while the soul suffers not for sin : but this 
sorrowing itself works the greater salvation to the mind. The 
deeper the bonds, the more rejoicing in the day of our deliverance ; 
as God never requires his own to suffer without a recompence. The 
sufferings of Job were great to prove the irresistable power of a Deity 
to the world ; but he fully recompenced Job for all his pains. To 
continue our line of evidences, for the Deity — we must own there 
is a future existence, or otherwise that there is no beginning. I 
believe there is a beginning, and end, and that there is eternal life. 
I do not believe there is beginning or end with God, but there is 
beginning and end with us. There is existence here and hereafter ; 
there is an existence in the body and out of it. I believe in the hand 
writing of Moses, because it is agreeable to my own impressions. 
Any thing that is alone, hath no proof, and may be the effects of 
imagination, or of an unseeing or an unfeeling mind. The captivity 
pf life, (styled the fall of the mind) imprisons our spiritual abilities, and 
darkens our eyes with a veil. We rather see with the brute than 
with the man, in this darkened and bewildered station of life. Moses 
writes of the beginning of a reformation in our father. A light from 
heaven. shon^ round about him, and shewed unto him the evil h© had 



178 IMPRESSIONS OF THE MIND. 

done. I have received the same measure and many thousands 
beside myself; and a hot conviction to the mind worketh a penitence 
of soul ; and even the goodness of God is such to ue, that he asks 
not our repentance but at a price ; and he is as ready to justify the 
penitent as he is to convict the sinner ; and as for deism, and 
atheism, they have no part vvih me in the work ; what is written in 
the heart by the hand of God, cannot be blotted out by the imagina- 
tion of men; and what I know, Moses knew and more so, that is, 
there is a God to be feared because of conviction ; and that he is to 
be served because of his blessings. And how earnestly did this 
poor man Moses toil to promote the will of God ; and that without 
money or price ? His hope must have been in a world to come, and 
a quiet peace and eternal salvation to the mind. Israel rewarded 
him not with a temporal reward for his pains, or a bodily rest : there- 
fore his hope was in God and in worlds to come. This man knew 
there was a beginning and an end to our existence : and he found it 
in his heart to greatly love and fear the Lord. He said in the 
beginning was God, and then he had a text for his whole theory and 
laws. He had a hope the world could not take away, and a confi- 
dence that all beings return to their original. This is not to say, the 
impenitent mind dwells in the bosom of God ; but is ever kept at a 
distance, till the day of repentance, which is to say, that all living 
shall bear witness of God in the body ; for this is the purpose of the 
creation and the cause why we are created. All these things have 
I believed, and in earnest have I practised my faith without fee or 
reward from the children of men. The athiest has no hope in these 
things ; but is not without fear, for Death is terrifying to his soul ; 
because God has made his soul capable of fear, and endued his heart 
with love, and yet he denies the revelation of God, or that there is an 
existence but nature ; it is true, God has his own nature and, we the 
nature and disposition that he has given. But here is the indisputable 
evidence of God ; he has made our nature subject to his, and our 
sorrows agreeable to his will. This is not saying that he delights in 
our chastisements, but as conviction is the knowledge of sin, it 
cannot be withheld from the mind. If we were conquerers of the 
governing system of the world, I think the athiest would be a happier 
man, and his glorious nature which is his God, would produce all 
that nature desires. But the athiest is as short in his prayers as 
other men; and the deist, as far from the kingdom of God. To 
prove that we offend, and the truth of the scriptures that say, as we 
sow we shall reap, or as we strew abroad we shall gather in — the 
athiest is not accomplished, neither is the deist satisfied. 

Now it is time to speak for myself: — I am glad in conviction, and 
even rejoice in my sorrow, because they are profitable to the mind. 
I was seeking the Lord, and thus I found him ; the will of God 



THE CREATION AN EVIDENCE OF THE DEITY. 1?9 

chastizing our iniquities in Jesus Christ, and in the prophets. Here 
I find the Lord desiring the salvation of the world, and not at rest 
with the brute, not knowing the cause of his own pain ; for this is 
the state of the athiest, and the hard hearted offending unbeliever in 
the things of God. I thank God that he is redeeming my trust from 
all things here below, and weaning me from the bosom of this world 
that can only afford us personal joys, and for a moment delight a 
human mind. Thus every drop of gall becomes as honey to my lips ; 
increases my hope in God, and redeems my affections from the earth 
and the enjoyments of it. Here the unpraclising christian remains 
too long ; he sometimes dies without hope, because his life hath not 
brought satisfaction to the mind. He rnaketh his grave with the 
athiest, for his faith in God was too feeble to practice ; and the light 
of justification never shone round about his soul. 

Oh Lord, give me to know my last days and mine end to be as my 
beginning ; passive in thy hands, and without offence to God or man. 
Oh that my days may not offend the Prophets, nor thy Son, by 
pleading for a faith or a non-belief that they refused to practise. 
Let me believe with these that hath seen sorrow, and the recompence 
for pain : these that have prepared the mind to return to thee in the 
furnace of thy displeasures for despising thee and practising the 
human will. Give me, Oh God, to know that my day's work is done 
before the setting sun, for who can work repentance in the grave. So 
I have lived, and so I practise. I increase in faith, and hope forsak- 
eth me not. She is my comforter from heaven, she will lead me 
home, she is strengthened by my deeds and finds a subsistence in the 
work of mine hands ; and God taketh her not away from my bosom, 
because she is satisfied. 

What athiest can sing with me ? What deist can blot out the revela- 
tion of my bosom ? No ten thousands of this class of people ; neither 
are they upheld by God, for although they measurably believe in na- 
ture, and disbelieve in God, the begining or the end, they despise the 
servants of the Lord, because they will not suffer the light of Christ 
and the Prophets to be blown out by a fool's lips. But he permits 
them to stagger, and try if they can find any substantial God 
that will bear up the mind through affliction, save the God of Moses 
and of Christ. Of a truth they are a scattered people in sentiment ; 
like lamps without oil, or candles without light, arguments without 
proof, and are alone from Prophet or Apostle, and for their singular 
languge cut ofT from the rest of the world ; and no christian repents 
of being a believer, and embraces their dead principles in the hour 
of death : days of old are against them, and present experience stares 
them in the face ; the end of their principles is to hide in darkness 
and be seen no more. 

m2 



180 IMPRESSIONS OF THE MIIV&* 

Sing Hallelujahs give me grace, 

That I can my Redeemer see — 
A maker's pleasure face to face ; 

A way Oh God, 't will reach to thee- 

A rising sun to light my day, 

The saints to shine as lamps most clear y 

As morning stars to light my way, 
Beyond the gates of hell and fear. 

Immortal princes on the throne, 

But God the first to sit most high, 
Whose hands hath for my soul a home, 

And all my kindred when I die. 

Oh hope inspire my limhs to move, 

Oh grace and truth alight my way, 
And I '11 perform the deeds of love, 

And then I '11 leave this house of clay. 

No fee this fading world affords, 

No mountain hears when I complain ; 
I live to bless these just records, 

That ne'er was wrote for man in vain. 

Living in the memory is eternal life ; and Moses and the Prophet 
has a place with me. Will their spirit despise me when I leave this 
body ? If I hear them do I offend God ? Do I write another history 
to condemn Moses, as an athiest, or a deist ? Do I deny revelation ? 
No, God is with me with sore impressions of mind. I am chastised 
because of love ; he willeth that I should be more spiritually minded ; 
he left bodies of clay, or personal help with me for a moment, and 
then reached down his hand from heaven, and withdrew the staffs I 
leaned upon. He bid me not to faint but live, and bear testimony of 
his word. In all this, lam bound to bless the Lord ; these are deeds 
of his pleasure, and who can deny his offering ? He taketh whom he 
will — the saviour from the children, and the children from the world. 
Truly he is a chastising God, but not in vain. He adds understand- 
ing with affliction, and light in the furnace of conviction ; and the 
believer finds it in his soul to bless God in his afflictions ; and God 
accepts the offering from his hand or tongue. And who is the man 
that repenteth praising God in his affliction ? Or who is he that hath 
cursed God in trouble and hath not had his lamp put out. Many of our 
deists are fallen christians, and athiests are these that lie with the 
brute — that is, rest in nature and eateth and drinketh like the ox : the 
world leadeth him like an ass in the halter and he goes on dying all 
his days in the mind of christians ; for his whole life and theory i« to 



THE MIND. 



181 






destroy the -character of these that lived before him, and remains in 
the mind of believers, — these stand in the way of his brutal joys ; for 
when he dieth his hope ends, his short and disappointed prospects 
reach no farther than the grave : and according to his own profes- 
sion, his eternal end may be to-morrow ; and if I was an athiest to 
get clear of present trouble, I would destroy myself. But their ia 
something that keeps the worst condition of men from this, and I 
believe that the athiest himself hopes that things will be better some 
future day, and is afraid to die and come to that professed senseless 
end. 



December 29th, 1833. 

The mind is tender as water in the infant frame, as soft as still 
water in the quiet child, but capable of being disquieted by all the 
changing scenes of life. The creation is effectual to the mind, and 
governs over it. The creation is an evidence of the Deity ; but the 
creation resteth not in the mind, but every herb and plant in their 
proper place. The mind is extensive, receiving all things heard 
and all things seen, but retaining nothing of them, because the Lord 
is the keeper of the gates of the city ; it is by his permission that all 
things enter in, and by his command depart again. The things of 
this world and of the world to come, or a future existence, never 
agreeth in one mind ; one must give up the kingdom for the other : 
they never were reconciled to abide in one mind in peace. We 
could not know the powerful effects of the creation on the mind did 
we not receive these things ; but the creation attracts our love, and 
leadeth the mind from a Deity to trust in things below the skies. I 
do not believe any thing is above the skies that is not below ; but 
the Deity is every where present, revealed and unrevealed, revealed 
in earthly things and concealed in heavenly-mindedness. If we had 
received nothing from God, we could have nothing to offer to him ; 
if he had given nothing, it would be unreasonable in him to require 
something where nothing was : but we have received at his hand, 
and must give again. The last offering that he requireth of us is 
life, and he sendeth death to take it from us. As a summons from 
a judge, life is commanded to depart this body. This is not the first 
offering of the mind, but the last ; and blessed is that soul that pre- 
pareth life an acceptable offering for the Lord. 

I now refer to the book of experience. When the earth has 
become hopeless, life is not very dear to the mind ; and thus God 
prepareth his own offerings, giveth and taketh away. The creation 
m2 



182 IMPRESSIONS' OP THE MIND. 

hath but a momentary delight in it ; it leadeth the mind from God, — 
it leaveth the soul as a stranger lost in the wilderness. These are 
only joys that prepareth the mind to cry after them that are forever 
gone. Thus God heareth the eries of the solitary, and embraces his 
own with love ; he comforteth these with the blessings of experience, 
the use and benefit of the creation to the mind, as well as the support 
of the body. This world prepares the mind to mourn for a Deity, 
or somewhat that this world hath not in store to give ; for there was 
neither prince nor potentate that was completely at rest below the 
sun. To use the creation according to the purpose for which the 
world was made, is glorious in the sight of God ; and thus he clothes 
his sons with double honor for so doing. The purposes of the cre- 
ation to the mind are to learn us to weep for a better inheritance ; for 
salvation to the mind is not in the world. The world is but for a 
moment of time and is no more. It delighted the child in his infancy, 
but not the man of age and experience ; he hath received it, and it 
hath passed away again while he remains in existence, and his mind 
retained or contained in his body. Were it not so, the youthful days 
of life would have no instruction, neither would a lamp of light burn 
before their eyes. Age and experience is of benefit to children ; 
every aged mind of experience can prophecy unto them of things 
that will come to pass. The children are as the field to the mind of 
experience. Here they cultivate the mind of children, and reap a 
harvest of comfort before they die. Here they see the early impres- 
sions of God on a youthful mind. Herein they are comforted in the 
things of God, and behold the impressions of future time making 
impressions on the mind. Thus the religious parent is comforted in 
their offspring, and in this only they have cause to rejoice in children 
before they go down to the grave. Good counsels are precious to 
the mind, and an understanding heart is life to the man, for it never 
departeth from him ; it goeth with him beyond the grave, and bears 
away all his weary and toiling limbs to rest : that is, the whole spirit 
or mind that abilitates the human frame ; for there is a man as per- 
fect within the man as the body is perfect without the soul. The 
body is but the clothing of the mind, a sign or shadow of things that 
are within, or the spirit that governs all our actions of life. 

'Tis but a simple thing to say, 
That we are born to live this day ; 
But deep and solemn is our trust, 
That lives when we are in the dust. 

No shadow can suffice the mind ; it is not in the power of all this 
world. The mind cannot subsist on temporal diet ; it only flatters 
for a time, and is no more. It must be spiritual food that comforts 
the mind ; this, God has retained in his own treasures. It must be 



THE MIND. 183 

mourned for, — it must be bought at the expense or price of all things 
on earth. God wanteth not our earthly things, but he desireth the 
knowledge of himself in the mind. He hath given us a mind intelli- 
gent in understanding to the person, if we will improve his word : 
that is, obey his command, and gather the harvest of the field for so 
doing ; for the mind is as a field which we improve by action, and 
is capable of receiving a happy or an unhappy reward. The event 
of our deeds teacheth us whether we are doing good or ill, and our 
sweetest joys are often an introduction to our deepest sorrow ; for 
our first sense and taste of the creation is given to pass away, and 
the mind is capable of mourning after that which never will return. 
Thus God has procured a hunger and a thirst for himself in the mind, 
that he may enter there when hills and seas, fields and gardens, have 
done all they can afford for us. It is sorrow that maketli joy accep- 
table. These joys that we receive without sorrow are fleeting and 
transitory ; they are here to-day, but to-morrow they are forever 
gone. God introduces himself through sorrow into the heart or mind 
of the man. We cannot love God with the whole heart while we 
love the world with any part of it. Therefore he hath given us that 
which we can give, and prepared the offering which we can resign, 
and the kingdom of heaven is purchased (according to our measures) 
at the expense of this world, and the latter must be given up before 
the former is received ; but while we remain in possession of this 
world, we know but little of the world to come, and remain to be 
blind guides to our children, and as lamps without oil to them that 
live after us. 

I know these things, — the}' are written from my heart ; they are 
first written there by the hand of the Deity, and then translated to 
you my friends and kindred of the Church to which you belong, 
(which is an unknown Church to the world,) somewhat like a medium 
between the Christian and the Jew. It is where the light of former 
and latter days are united into one, and shineth with considerable 
lustre on the earth, somewhat uncomprehended and out of the way 
to these that are in extremes about the dispensation of former and 
latter days. It hath not been in the power of Jew nor Christian to 
extinguish this small gleam of light ; its increase is unknown to the 
world, and when my small lamp will go out is unforeseen by the pro- 
phets of the age. My journey is long in the hook of experience, 
and my mind ceaseth not to progress forward ; and as I receive, I 
give unto you these things that God hath committed to my trust. 
The more enemies we have the better it is for us, if we are not con- 
quered by them. If one man beats a thousand, it showeth that he 
is strong ; if two ten thousand, nothing is more certain than this that 
God is with them. It is God and not men that governs the earth ; 
power is not in the hands of men to do as they will. If we feel not 



184 IMPRESSIONS OF THE M1N&. 

the power of the oppressor, we feel not with the oppressed. One 
thing is meet for another. Complain not of the times ; all things 
are in order for improvement. Be not dismayed at the things of 
this world ; it is in the power of God to give to whom he will, and' 
from whom he will, take away. 

How can we say, Oh sorrow cease, 
When sorrow is our path to peace? 
How can we wealth or honour crave, 
That blinds us to the tomb or grave ? 

The purpose of the creation is to learn us to mourn. We first 
fall in love with the things of time, as a man with a maiden, and then 
they are dissolved or taken from us. Thus we know the use of 
things created, and the purpose of the world. It is for us to offer to 
God, to embrace, and then mourn after these things we must sacri- 
fice in return to the owner. Thus we know the insufficiency of time 
and the necessity of a sure eternity that will exceed the comforts of 
life. 

And thus to conclude : the sorrows of the world maketh way for 
the sure mercies of God, and a long continuance in sorrow sweetens 
our rest, and thus we'll conclude the service of the day. The Deity 
has a right to the mind, and enters into us (in spirit) through the 
gates of sorrow, and comforts the afflicted mind. These are the 
lines of my experience and the end of humanity, when and where 
man and his desires shall rule nor reign no more. 

Sing Oh heavens, Oh angels sing, 

Oh earth attend to hear! 
'Tis thus we find the living spring 

Of waters ever clear. 

Oh, here the humble thirsty draw, 

The weary drink their fill ; 
This is where God writes down his law, 

Where God reveals his will. 

Wisdom, thy spring shall never dry, 

Thy bread shall never cease ; 
Thou givest the weak a full supply, 

The weary lasting peace. 

May blessings ever crown thy name, 

The name whom I adore ; 
Thou brings thy children all to fame, 

And comforts with thy store. 






[ 185 ] 



February 11th, 1834. 

THE FORMER AND LATTER DISPENSATIONS OF THE 
WORLD. 

However the Deity hath changed the covering or garments of 
the human mind, he remains to be unchangeable in spirit through 
all the multiplied ages of the world. We must first know the Deity 
before we can have a light to a lost or bewildered mind. When 
we have light before our eyes, we see where to place our feet, and 
have the less cause for stumbling. The divisions of the world con- 
cerning the Deity are incorrect ; those that knew him in past ages 
did agree, both of the former and latter dispensations, which is a 
substantial evidence that he is one God in all the ages of the world, 
invariable in the mind of the human family. 

No.v disputing darkens the elements, and obscures the kingdom 
of God. God's kingdom is wherever he reigns as king or prince 
over the people. This is the happy place we wish to go to, to 
accomplish the desires of the mind or of the man. God is not con- 
tradictory to himself, but one invariable God. I accept that the 
Prophets and Apostles both, or all of them, prayed for the admit- 
tance of the inhabitants of the earth into one kingdom, and I see 
nothing variable in the family that God hath chosen, (through 
repentance for the remission of their sins) ; I believe that Patriarchs, 
Prophets and Apostles inherit one kingdom, for they were of one 
heart and mind, and in their united capacity in their observations, 
are a light to the world. What God has appointed and decreed from 
the first gives light until now ; we behold him in sun, moon and 
stars, and they fade not away ; he hath not changed the lights of the 
world nor of the mind — he is one invariable God. We see him in 
Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, with many other bright suns that shone 
in the morning of our ages, and he never hath sent a son, saint, or 
angel to cloud or obscure these lights. So professing, or to so 
profess, is diminishing the light of the world, and endeavouring to 
veil the stars of heaven with the light of the sun. I confess him 
that hath perfect knowledge of the Son of God, or the latter dispen- 
sation, hath no need to go back to Moses for instruction ; but he 
hath said, there is a possibility of believing that we are wise, and 
neither know Moses or Christ. If I know Moses, his history bears 
on my mind that the lesser lights were to rule the night, and not- 
withstandng a bright shining sun, these, according to their ap- 
pointment and decree, remain to fulfil their office till this day. So 
I accept there are many goodly lessons in the life of Moses and the 
Patriarchs that are not to be passed by ; they direct us a piece on 



186 IMPRESSIONS OF THE MIND. 

the way to that kingdom where we would meet with all in peace, 
without envying or dispute. As we have fallen into the dungeon by 
following the dictates of our own mind, (rather than the laws and 
counsels of the Lord,) I never think it wise in the human mind to 
despise small things": the sun doth not shine by night, but moon and 
stars. When we have reverenced God for his unmerited blessings, 
for giving unto wilful sinners these lesser measures of light, and 
beheld his mercies and merits to Abraham and others, he may 
through his unnumbered favours, increase our measures and bring 
us nearer to his own bosom, where his image shines more bright to 
the mind than these lesser lights, viz., Moses and the Prophets. 
But they are worthy to be heard by all ages, and are justified by the 
Son of God, so far as to say they are in a kingdom of peace. 
There is nothing variable between the Prophets and the saints : they 
all cried repentance to the world to be blessed of God — so, my 
friends, when we fulfil one dispensation we receive another. It 
matters not about the clothing of the mind if our garments are of 
God. God is not contradictory to himself — we will agree and see 
alike — he gave one dispensation to the Jew and another to the 
Christian, but by these visitations unites them in one kingdom in the 
end. Let us be united here, it will be an honor to God, increase 
our praise, and multiply light in the world. Let us look on Christ, 
let us keep his life before our eyes, and his deeds in remembrance : 
he fulfilled all righteousness, he walked according to Moses and the 
Prophets, and grace was multiplied upon him. I no more dare to 
speak against the righteous of former ages than I would offend my 
dearest friend on earth ; are not their souls in heaven where I wish 
mine should be ? Can it be any qualificalion to my mind to speak 
against the inhabitants of the city where I wish to reside 1 The Son 
of God fulfilled one dispensation, and passed on to another ; he 
honored God for what he had done in the world by the first dispen- 
sation, and then entered into his own, to lay the bottom stone of the 
christian church. 

We learn the alphabet at school before we spell, we spell before 
we read, but him that is so veiled with self-possession, imagines he 
knoweth all things by the life of Christ, and yet cannot observe the 
moon and stars by night, nor knoweth where religion first began. 
Moses and Christ are names or titles given to the personages of 
men — God is all. Through these we look up to the Most High, 
and first learn the easier lessons of his grace. Him that has a law 
written has an easier station to fulfil, than him that is praying from 
day to day, and has but a crumb at a time to satisfy his hungry 
mind, or a drop of water to cool his thirst. This requires the greater 
degree of faith, and a more continual supplication than him that has 
his law on tables of stone before his eyes. 



THE FORMER AND LATTER DISPENSATION. 187 

I do not wish to clothe my friends with the warm garments of 
Israel, but that we should receive such as is given from heaven, and 
first learn the easier lessons of God's law. Him that doeth not 
justly in the lesser matters never will be trusted with the things of 
God. Him that despises a written law through the blindness of his 
exaltation, will not become an heir of God's grace. Oh my brethren, 
do justice in earthly things, that your measures may increase, and 
the grace of God enlighten the whole mind. Christ fulfilled the 
dispensation of Moses, and then entered into his own. How, just 
and true is that sentence that saith, he is the light of the world, for 
all things shone unto him ; he received all, and retained all, and all 
did he administer to the life of men ; neither did he hide Moses nor 
the Prophets from their eyes, nor one of the kings or patriarchs 
that shone in Israel. So let me see, so let me practice, that I may 
be as near that heavenly Son as I can obtain, through the mercies 
and merits of our God. 

Never let me, O God! be led away by self-perfection, for this is 
the spirit that veils sun, moon and stars from mine eyes, or my soul 
from an understanding of Moses or of Christ ; keep mine imperfec- 
tions before mine eyes, and every convincing light that convicts for 
sin, shining upon and giving light to my imperfect mind. 

Then of thy grace aloud I'll sing, 
And see thy name in every thing, 
Thy name through every age declare, 
And all thy sons and saints compare. 

Oh pride ! dark mantle of distress, 
When will thy name or words be less? 
Thy children have no power to save, 
Nor eyes to see the hidden grave. 

While I see the former dispensation to far exceed my given mea- 
sures of grace, how can I despise a sun that shines brighter than 
mine own mind? But so Satan hath exalted himself in the mind of 
the priest, till the world has become as a broken vessel,- practising 
nothing that is equal to the former dispensation to enlighten our age 
of life. Each monk, or priest, (not pointing to the Catholic religion) 
but all the sectarian priests are exalted upon their own stools, divid- 
ing the people by their imaginary perfections, dividing them into 
kingdoms here below, and still fitting them for one kingdom here- 
after. It would take a saint that mine eyes have never seen, to 
convert my mind to believe that such a practice of life proceedeth 
out from the Deity ; no, it is the dictates of the human mind, leading 
the flocks into the wilderness, and feeding them on sectarian crumbs 
from the dark mind of imagination. Moses, by his measures, endea- 



188 IMPRESSIONS OF THE MIND. 

voured to unite the mind to Christ, the oracle of all light, so did the 
Prophets, and spake plainly of him, so did Christ, so did the 
Apostles, and as many as believed were of one heart and soul. But 
now we have as many souls as sects, and more so, for brethren 
cannot agree ; all this is to teach us the imperfection of our shep- 
herds : they say they are all administering Christ to the world — 
communicate his body and blood — advise to him as the pastures of 
the flocks of Israel ; but, alas ! we see gold in the case, and the 
love of the world ; we see our present prophets or apostles fond 
of dignity and wealth, and what better are such minds than a 
heathen prince, that knoweth not Moses nor Christ ? We do not 
know Moses by seeing his law, nor Christ by the written Gospel, 
we must practise the obedience of these two sons, and then we 
come to the blessed effects of being accepted of God, and justified 
for our faith which he hath given. 

So let me see, so let me feel, 

So let me understand ; 
Truth after truth Oh God reveal, 

Command after command. 

Did the dispensation of Moses turn the people from the Son of 
God? It directed them that way. Was there any distinction in 
these that received the commandments ? They were one people in 
heart and mind. Then the days of Moses were better than ours. 
Are they not aliens to peace that divide apart and struggle for pro- 
motion ? Are they getting ready for the kingdom of God that are 
dividing here on earth ? Who can believe that either the former or 
latter dispensation is preached to the world ? The hypocrite can 
use letters, and satan and sinners use the name of the Lord in argu- 
ment ; but it is the reformer that clothes his mind with the spirit of 
Moses and Christ, and speaks peace to the world through the mercies 
and merits of God, and that the old and new dispensations are his 
gifts to the world, and the pleasure of the Most High. Both of these 
in effect reduces our pride and our wealth, increases our humility 
and a union of spirit with men. Blessed be one God over all for, 
ever ! Amen. 

Could I see Jesus on the throne, 

I would see Moses sitting by ; 
Could I the mournful prophet own, 

The humble saint I'd not deny. 

Oh how extensive is thy grace, 

That spreads thy building hands abroad; 

Thy name's delighting to release, 
From every malice, guilt and fraud. 



THE PATH OP OBSERVATION. 189 

Lord, cause my weeping eyes to see, 

As Moses saw in days of old ; 
He call'd the people home to thee, 

Unto one shepherd and one fold. 

Lord, from my soul hide not the Son, 

But bless my mind with every light ; 
For since the day my sins begun, 

I need them all to lead me right. 

A song of praise shall crown mine end, 

O Lord my soul to peace restore ; 
Nor shall my soul thy sons offend, 

Their days shall shine forevermore. 

If these the lesser lights may be, 

They still are brighter than my mind ; 
Sun, moon, and stars are all of thee, 

By these I will thy kingdom find. 



March 12th, 1834* 

Whosoever leaveth the path, or placeth his feet ho more by 
observation, will receive many falls before he can stand alone. He 
is like a man that turneth aside from a beaten way to seek his foot- 
steps in the wilderness where none hath gone before him. The 
Hebrews in the wilderness are a perfect similitude of such a life. 
But him that walketh not in this depending way, is like the wheel 
driven by the stream, or the leaf that flutters in the wind. He feed- 
eth all his days upon what he hears, but never draws one drop of 
water from the spring of his own knowledge, but lives by borrowing 
all his days, and hath nothing to return to the world for what he has 
received. He has lived all his days a servant to other souls, and 
dieth in debt. 

To remove such causes as these, I would encourage to the wilder- 
ness, — receive the falls — cry and rise again. Every fall that is hurt- 
ful to the mind is still adding strength. If we have stepped into the 
mire once, we know where it is, and will endeavour to shun the next 
appearance of the pit by the remembrance of past days. Him that 
setteth out on the journey to heaven through his own mind, must 
depend on finding himself to be a lost being often in life. He must 
rely on finding these thirsty lands that Israel saw, and his soul pant- 
ing for water almost without hope. All this is better or sweeter thaa 



190 IMPRESSIONS OF THE MIND. 

to remain a servant all our d^s to the princes and Pharaohs of the 
earth. And although Israel sinned in the wilderness, they served 
God in this obscure journey; and his good and incomparable spirit 
gave them laws. I had rather eat one crumb of independent bread 
than to be fed at the king's table with all the luxuries of life. What 
God giveih is our own, independent of princes and nobles that rule 
over us. It was the mercies of God that delivered Israel from bonds, 
and the same continuing favours will deliver all that seek them ; but 
him that is contented to live on the wind, is satisfied with drawing in 
the breath from his neighbour's lips : so are many historians that 
are ever repeating what others have done, but for want of experience 
must be silent to their own merits, or the particular favours of God. 
Whosoever wishes to live a depending life can follow the track of 
priests and lawgivers, and go a silly captive into the bonds of death. 
I am resolved on trying the possibility of standing alone ; and if 
through the mercies of the Lord I find an independent path to the 
grave, and my footsteps shall give glory to God the director, then 
shall my life be a memorial of encouragement to them that inherit 
the earth when I am dead and gone. Priests make us tributaries, 
and kings keep us in slavery. The learned would sell their talents, 
but we have not money to buy them ; we have our families to support 
with temporal diet as well as them. How can we buy bread for the 
soul ? There is a better way, God hath in store to give from the 
foundations of the world. VVe have only to repent of our sins to 
obtain this bread ; and I am sure this is better than to continue to sin 
and remain slaves. This leadeth us on to consider what law is this 
that we have broken whereby we come to the dishonourable title of 
sinners. It is the law of the heart or mind ; this is the first offence, 
and it is this sin that maketh men and women to be slaves, after God 
hath made them free. The world is changing — let us observe the 
builder's hand. This inward or divine law is repairing again ; let 
us give God the mind as it was his at the beginning, and he will write 
in the heart of his people. And to encourage us to such an offering, 
Moses and the prophets hath been sent unto us from the kingdom of 
God. Whosoever believeth in them, trusteth in God, and is sure 
there is a pathway for him to heaven, without serving the bands and 
host of Pharaoh all his days. All that is written is for the purpose 
of increasing our faith, and to encourage us to try be confident in 
God through wonders he has done, and leave the unbelieving family 
behind us, — as the ship for the foreign port, trusting in the mercies 
of God as the compass of the soul. I often invite our people to 
make their observations on the life of Christ and the Apostles, and 
suffer their minds to go to school to these heavenly masters or 
teachers, for they will learn us good things. They are as Moses 
and the prophets ; they are sent of God, to fit and prepare the mind 



THE PATH OF OBSERVATION. 191 

for this lonesome journey. They are only to feed us while the mind 
is young in experience ; but when we come to practise, we must 
leave observations and walk after the spirit of truth. But if we will 
not do these things, we cannot be their disciples, nor walk in spirit 
with Moses in the wilderness. 

The world is changing indeed, and I have strong desires to leave 
it; but as yet these are unheard prayers, and while I live I must be 
in the service of God. I must go on to the grave, and not sit down 
idle till the grave cometh to me. I wish the light of my brethren 
grew brighter and brighter ; but I can see but little with some of 
them, save time wearing away. They err grossly in judgment, and 
plead the unrighteous cause of sinners. Such pleadings are not the 
righteous calls of Christ : which is, that sinners should repent. I 
should not record such things : but it is late in life with many of my 
brethren ; and by these misfortunes, or steps of mire and clay, I 
advise the succeeding generation to place their feet on wiser ground, 
and do not such deeds as sink the soul down to hell, the place 
prepared for the obstinately wicked since the pillars of the earth 
were laid. He that striketh hands with a sinner, will fare with him 
in the end ; both will be found in error together. These are untaught 
and unskilled deeds of life. We do not learn these lessons of Abra- 
ham, that first reformer of the Jews, the father of the faithful, the 
then stone to build upon, — we do not draw such references as these 
from the mind of Moses, nor his faithful associates, — we do not read 
these laws in the bosom of the prophets ; we do not find them written 
in the life of Christ. Oh what would I do to convince my friends? 
They should make their observations and advance forward. God 
made every good Israelite to walk in the same way. One light was 
sufficient for them, and they walked together. I live to exhort you 
my brethren a little longer. While you are in your fields and shops, 
I am spending the day writing for you. When will you learn to 
know that divisions are errors — save dividing the mind from the deeds 
of sin and sinners? This is a righteous separation; but Oh my 
brethren the whole house trembles with divisions, and the earth is 
at variance one part with the other ! Repent hastily, and every soul 
forgive his brother that so repenteth. The cry of all good people 
was to the offender, Repent of thine offences, receive forgiveness, 
and be at peace ; but we will not even own that we are guilty, or 
hath given cause of offence. Oh miserable people ! how can the 
upright be at peace with you? Where is our house standing? or 
what will be the fall thereof? The servants of kings and counsellors 
are at variance, but the servants of the Lord are at peace. I have 
set out on the lonesome journey, and I know not that patriarchs or 
prophets that were of old condemn my lonesome steps, neither has 
Christ and his lonesome followers risen up against my mind. I 



192 IMPRESSIONS OF THE MIND. 

apprehend my spirit is in the way appointed of God, and I have but 
little comfort or consolation in the earth. As I serve not the princes 
and nobles of my age, they frown upon my appearance, — as I pay 
no tribute to the priest, he stands a distance from my necessities, — 
as I find fault with governments and counsellors, I share none of the 
public gold, — and as I cannot walk in consort with my brethren, I 
am chastised by them for error : and hasten my steps to meet the 
grave. Every time I fall, I am the stronger. Every turn adds 
experience to the mind. Every frown increases my faith ; for by 
these heart-known lessons I am taught more and more to distrust 
the world. 

The drop of water tasteth sweet, 

We in the thirsty desert find, 
And every fall directs our feet, 

And every crumb assists the mind. 

The more we suffer to perform a righteous life, the richer we are 
with God ; we have the more in store. He doth not require our 
service without wages. His servants are not like the servants of 
kings ; they never complain of their master. Though they hunger, 
they are sure to be fed ; and though they thirst, the spring is ever 
at hand for their consolation : and these are my evidences for the 
Most High God, Jacob's Lord and Israel's Saviour. I have found 
these things in my way ever since I left this world of observation, 
and the historian with his book under his elbow, like a man leaning 
on the tombs of the dead for the bread of life, he goeth backward 
through life, ever looking on past things, and falls accidentally into 
the grave : for he that giveth his mind to history, is ever looking 
backward into the world. These are the servants of big men, so 
called, because of an empty title. These are the men of our present 
renown ; these are the men of talent, the directors of schools and 
of science ; these are the depending souls, that give the world the 
example of bonds ; these are the men between the great and small, 
that are nothing at all of a certainty. They are what the potter 
that lived before them has made them : they are as the wheel driven 
by the stream, as the dead leaf fluttering in the wind. 

I '11 on my lonesome journey sing, 

And truths will I declare ; 
'Tis but a shame to be a king, 

For there 's no honour there. 

On fields and folds he doth depend, 

Supported by a slave; 
What honour is in such an end? 

What glory's in the grave? 



THE PATH OP OBSERVATION. 193 

Still boasting in a shepherd's trust, 

I'll bid my brother come, 
And first the water I will taste, 

And earn the honest crumb. 

O be contented great and small, 

That finds the living spring; 
For sure there 's bread for one and all, 

And mercy for the king. 

Be not afraid in heaven to trust, 

Or winds and waves engage ; 
For sure the pilot can 't be lost, 

The star of every age. 

Although the water's dark and deep, 

There is a distant shore; 
The eyes will cease that now do weep, 

And never weep no more. 

The shepherd's caring for his sheep, 

Although the forests howl ; 
There 's guardian angels where we sleep, 

And comforts for the soul. 



March 30th, 1834. 

Oh Lord, thy name forever bless'd, 
My peace, my comfort, and my rest, 
My bread, my water, and my wine, 
My saint, apostle, and divine. 

My life, my Saviour, and my law, 
My God to worship and to awe ; 
Exalted nations trembling stand, 
And dread his judgment and command. 

Death is to him our conquer'd foe, 
The dread of worlds that dwell below, 
Depriv'd of heaven and worlds above, 
He 's bound and conquer'd through his love, 

The love of him that bids him move, 
Till we our fields and vines improve, 
Arise my soul behold his grace, 
That visits and improves our place, 

N 



194 IMPRESSIONS OF THE MOO. 

The lamb 's appointed here to reign, 
And David's throne arise again ; 
The saints to teach and to foresee^ 
These things that will hereafter be. 

The priest and prophet to adore, 
Both God and Christ forevermore, 
And Abram leave his house and home, 
To go to lands and names unknown. 



April 27th, 1834. 

The strength of the mind is inconceivable by the non-practiser. 
Many are moving that move not by their own abilities ; and there 
are great characters in the mind of this world that cannot walk 
alone, any more than the helpless child without the assistance of his 
father's hand. They move altogether by borrowed impressions, and 
their very life is the production of history ; and by the same means, 
when a child is born into the world, the Rabbies receive him from the 
mother's hands, and form his mind as an earthen vessel, as they 
will. I never had the hands of these fashioning men upon my mind. 

I am in a great measure an inhabiter of the wilderness, and my 
mind has increased in a natural way by the help of God. The hand- 
writing of the scribe and prophet encouraged me forward ; but when 
I had found a little, I could feed myself through God's assistance, 
and I had no need that these present divines should put bread to my 
lips. My mind endureth deep sorrows and the reproaches of the 
earth ; and if one mind can endure the reproach of ten thousand, it 
is just for him to say his mind is strong through Divine assistance. 

Every fall doth not amount to a dissolution of action. I have seen 
a child fall and rise by his own abilities ; and when he arose he was 
indebted to no man for assistance, and had no need of an empty 
trumpet to sound the applause of the Rabbies to the world. 

Blessed is the mind that trusteth in the Lord ; he is as a staff that 
doth not fail; he is a sure compass in the storm. Who was ever 
lost that put his trust in him? We are not all obliged to go to 
school to be wise. Were it so, the poor must be slaves forever, for 
the Rabbies do not teach for nothing, as in days of old. But that 
spirit which hath arisen by Moses, the prophets, and the Son of God, 
will never set ; it remaineth as the sun, to give light to the world : 
and these ancient characters are the productions of the spirit of 
truth. The master teacheth the scholar; but when he is taught he 
must read for himself. The parent earneth bread for the child when 



THE STRENGTH OP THE MIND. 195 

he is young, but when advanced in years he must seek his own meat, 
find his own springs, or dig for that water that supplieth his immortal 
thirst. A Christian's mind cannot remain in history but a few days. 
His soul begins to hunger for the bread he has heard of, and to drink 
of that spring where Christ and the prophets draw water for the 
whole earth. He becomes dissatisfied with shells and shadows. 
History becomes light diet to him ; it only increaseth his thirst rather 
than to satisfy his mind. But this is where our literary gentlemen 
keep their scholars forever, flitting from one sort of history to 
another, from sacred to profane. I do not speak as a chastisement 
to them, for this has been as a line of order from age to age, and 
the path to promotion and wealth. It is justified by the world, and 
tends to drown the conviction of God. 

The scholar cannot exceed his master; but as the father is, so is 
the son : and both may be in error, as blind men go into the mire. 
We shall ever love the vanities of this world, till the Lord pleases to 
cast a dark mantle over them. When the Son of God was crucified, 
the light of this world was clothed with a mantle. None but God 
and heaven above could do this. That day the pride of this world 
lost glory, honour, and renown ; for their deeds were dark, — the sun 
in heaven bearing witness unto them. And although the Son of God 
died with sinners, he rose again, for God commanded him to rise. 
JSo when I fall with sinners, I know there is power in heaven to 
raise me up. But these that fall from office cannot rise without the 
help of men ; they are as depending on the things of this world as 
the child on the mother's breast, and disclose the greatest weakness 
of the mind that can be in the human existence. He that is "con- 
ducted through life by the arm of flesh, depends upon it as the staff 
of life, and from his infancy becomes a man-pleaser rather than a 
worshipper of God. And as I or my mind depends on them that 
please men, my low and miserable office of life is to please them 
that are pleasing others, which brings my immortal soul to be a ser- 
vant of servants, a pleaser of these that are pleased by the wealth, 
pomp, and vanities of the sinful world. 

Flee my soul to the desert often as the morning ; thou cannot be 
so retired but thou can be found of the Lord, or a prophet can be 
directed to thy lonesome habitation. It is better to dwell with the 
flocks than the shepherds of the age, for they please men for shells 
and shadows here below. It is good to feel the bruises of the afflict. 
ed, and visit the habitations of those that mourn. God heareth the 
cries of the humble, but mocketh the prayers of pride, and giveth 
up the worldly-minded to feed on the wind, and not be satisfied. 

Every soul has to answer to God for his own guilt ; and the books 
of the prophets stand alike to us all, and they direct us forward to 
the bosom of a Saviour, who is now with God, who said, If I go not 
n2 



196 IMPRESSIONS OF THE MINK. 

away, the comforter will not come. His personal appearance is but 
for a time, but his spirit is forever. His spirit is clothed with power 
and glory, but we are weak in trust. The Scriptures direct, but we 
are slow to believe. Who hath given his heart to the Lord and he 
hath not received it? None : but many have given their tongues to 
the Lord to repeat his lessons, and the heart to the world to enjoy the 
luxuries of the day. 

These are no Rabbies to me, neither do I see the life of a redeemer 
formed in the mind. I only see the tongue move by words that he 
hath revealed, and the evangelists and prophets hath penned them, 
and our priests made barter of them like goods in store. Oh what 
a deviation from the sacred ages of the world, — believe in revelation, 
and feed the world with history ! Every true prophet from Abram 
till now dug their own wells, and watered their flocks from the springs 
of experience. But now people live as if all things were done for 
them, and as though the experience of David were an everlasting 
song in their lips. Such a life is a repetition, and the productions 
of a weak mind. Any natural and cultivated school boy can perform 
such deeds as these. But to prove that the Lord is unbounded in 
wisdom, and that he hath not given all his mercies to one age of the 
world, nor to one mind, — Isaac succeedeth Abram, and Jacob Isaac, 
and the prophets Moses, and Christ all that had been before him. 
In these sacred characters we see the order of life and the continua- 
tion of revealed religion ; and by these succeeding ages the world 
grew wiser and wiser, for all and every age added to the honour and 
glory of God. But by feeding on history, — this idle, easy, and indo- 
lent way of life, — the world has lost the knowledge of God, and the 
progress of the mind is stayed for want of faith in God through the 
revelation of Moses and the prophets — the practice of Christ and 
those that believed in him. Oh that life was restored to the world, 
and light to the mind, that wisdom might increase, and the glory of 
God be multiplied by every succeeding generation that is born into 
the world! And for this purpose I write from mine own mind, and 
somewhat against the most earthly dignified characters in existence ; 
and my mind still continues to find that daily meat, that strengthens 
my abilities to step a little further forward, with hope that I shall find 
the lonesome mind of the prophet, or the indwelling of a Saviour, 
that my experience may be like theirs and in accordance with the 
will of God, as he hath revealed to the world by Moses and by 
Christ. Then I shall know the Lord by tasting of his bitter cups, 
by rising when I fall, by rejoicing in the favours of God when he 
heareth my righteous prayer, that he again may afford means to the 
world by the spirit of his Son, by whom Israel shall be restored, and 
a sacred Saviour to all that are lost. Then shall my soul rejoice in 
heaven, though my mind is in this short-lived tabernacle of clay, and 



THE MIND IS A COMPACT BODY. 197 

in no wise shall I lose my reward. The days are not long hence 
till God shall turn the heart of the father to the children, and the 
children to the father, and they shall seek the kingdom of heaven 
together ; for as there was peaee when the worlds were made, after 
sin is accomplished, and the sorrows thereof — it will return to the 
world again, and there shall be neither office nor priest under hea- 
ven. God and the people shall be all and all. Amen. 

Unto the Lord I '11 give my praise, 

Nor stumble o'er my foes ; 
Because the light of ancient days 

My songs and prayers compose. 

The mind is strong, unmeasured strong, 

Oh, kindred, rise and try; 
The mournful soul can sing a song, 

And rise to God most high. 

The blood of Jesus is my food, 

To bless and praise his name ; 
My soul his life hath understood, 

Because I drink his pain. 

A num'rous world he did oppose, 

Because his mind was strong ; 
And he was beaten by his foes, 

For teaching they were wrong. 

His spirit is my lasting bread, 

The spring I ever find ; 
My soul shall bow where Jesus bled, 

Yet have a living mind. 



June 4th, 1834. 

The mind is a compact body or spirit, yet unbounded save by a 
deity ; and unmeasured by all the learned masters that were in 
existence ; neither hath line, reed or figures reached to the extent of 
the mind. Life is but a journey in the mind ; and although this body 
shall decay, the mind still liveth for another to inherit ; for all the 
inhabitants of the earth are inheriters of the mind, and such as man 
was possessed of since the worlds were made. How many new 
inventions hath arisen in the mind ? How many creeds, and yet the 
mind is not satisfied, but seeking something we do not yet enjoy ? If 
n2 



198 IHPBES3IOJJ3 0? TIIB MIND. 

we go to various parts of the world, we gain but little, if we stay at 
home, we are not content ; if we gain much, the mind is not full ; if 
we possess but little, the mind is wanting. Let us travel if possible 
where none has been, and seek that which hath not been found. 
Enjoy that which we have not known, and endeavour to see things 
that have not been revealed. Contentment is the great object that 
is wanting to make a happy mind ; if there is a heaven, it is there, 
for there is no contentment in the miseries of hell, neither is it 
possible with man to to be reconciled to the griefs of his soul. I am 
not doubtful but there is a heaven ; and hell to me is known when I 
am in my deep distress. The events of life is heaven and hell to 
the soul, and God doth govern them. If we cast off the fear of the 
Almighty, we are not happy: if we follow the dictates of grace, 
sorrow is in our way. AV hereunto shall we flee to escape the decrees 
of God? They are in Jieaven above, and in hell below, they were 
known to a mediator, whose being was between God and man, he 
was heir of both kingdoms, and the spirit of truth can reveal secret 
things unto us. We look in the east for the rising of the sun, and 
we are not disappointed. Why doth the sun continue to rise in the 
east ? Because God's decrees are so, and they are unchangeable. 
His decree is also unto us, that, if we give our hearts to know that 
which we need, we shall be happy ; are not his decrees with man 
established in heaven as with the sun that he commanded to rise and 
give light to the world, and his covenant with this heavenly light 
changeth not forever and ever. I believe in the decrees of God and 
the more I suffer for the kingdom of heaven's sake, the more my joys 
shall be. Hope is my staffto lean upon, and heaven directs my way; 
and daily I am finding unmeasured gulfs, rivers, and miseries in the 
way, and no man hath shewn me how to surmount these difficulties, 
neither am I able to discern a way to pass them through. And if 
there is no God, (as the atheists say) I can pass no farther on, but 
must be everlastingly miserable, or till time shall be no more. It is 
in these very straits that God reveals himself to man — wins our con- 
fidence, and obtains our love. Is there a book in the world that can 
direct us through our daily troubles? They are not known to ages 
before us, neither doth the scriptures contain them — they are the 
productions of time, and the revelation of God. The natural man 
can be confounded and put to silence ; but the light of grace goeth 
not out, neither can the arm of the Lord be weakened by human 
reason. Therefore I will trust in him that led me through sorrows 
that were never known to man, and through gulfs and rivers where 
human assistance is in vain. The is a God, and on him our all 
depends, there is a contentment in the treasures of his grace ; for I 
have seen these days in which nothing was wanting to the body or 
the mind ; my cup was full and I coveted not, these moments are not 



THE MIND IS A COMPACT BODY. T99 

at my command ; he that gave them took away again, and I am 
bound to ever bless his name ; he hath no judge, and all he doeth is 
right. Could I read my life in a book 1 Or wizzard or fortune tellers 
reveal to me that which was to come ? No ; neither could my 
mind contain the events of the day before their coming : these things 
were hidden with God and revealed at the time appointed. If we 
want to see a city, we must go to it — it will not come to us ; if we 
have lost a pearf of much cost, we must seek for it, or it will not 
be found. No man enters into the kingdom of heaven in a state of 
ease. Christ ascended through deep sorrows to the throne of God ; 
could man assist him through his distress 1 No ; he was beyond the 
help of men — forsaken of angels— given into the hands of the wicked 
and deprived of the help of God ; or he could not have said, he 
was " forsaken." All these impressions did he feel to afflict his holy 
heart, and my soul must taste also to become acquainted with his 
mental feelings. It is not looking on a saviour that saves the soul, 
or redeems it from sin : our minds must be acquainted with his grief, 
and know God to be our deliverer ; and there is no other way to 
follow Christ to heaven, and as he said, let the day provide for itself, 
" sufficient is the day to the evil thereof." It is impossible with us, 
to provide to day to shun the evil that is appointed for to-morrow ; 
nevertheless we can live in favor with God this day, and he will be 
our friend on the morrow. As we travel, we rind the events of life, 
and sorrow overtaketh these that sit still ; as we travel we see, and 
as we read we learn, and as we receive, we are satisfied, and this is 
the path to contentment, that is, to read in the book of experience ; 
that is, to feel as a sorrowful Redeemer — destitute of the help of 
God, and out of the reach of the salvation of men. Who shall say 
that this is not a gulf or river to pass through ? That none can 
know, save these that are in the very strait in mind of liim that 
bled for us. These sorrows and divine assistance, is what is 
called the sacrament, or bread communicatd to us from heaven ; 
and we that receive have great cause to bless the giving hand for 
communicating the life of Christ to the mind. Those that seek 
these things shall find them ; he is the pearl of dear cost — it is his 
life that is lost from the children of men, or rather we are lost from 
the knowledge of God : but he hath made a covenant with his people, 
that is if we seek he will be found of us. He will place a Saviour in 
our way — give light to our eyes, and we shall see — life to the mind, 
and we shall feel the griefs he bore, weep disconsolate and rise 
again ; die to all our human desires, and live again. Oh how cruci- 
fying to my soul! I cannot communicate the tenth part of what 
is revealed, neither can the will of God be known till it is partaken 
of. The sun arose at his command : there is no life without — or 
independant of a creator — there is no peace but God giveth, and 



200 IMPRESSIONS OF THE MIND. 

heaven is contentment to the soul, I desire to decline writing ; but 
I am bound to obey, and the very things I communicate in writing, I 
had rather retain to myself: I do not increase my salvation by these 
little services : It is hard labour to the weak, and almost reduces 
me to despair. Nevertheless I am not content without noting the 
journies in the mind, and leave them on record as a witness of God's 
providence to the mind. I must solemnly exhort my friends first, 
and then all the world, to come away from vain things. The^vanity 
of this world is only as chaff to be fanned away by the power of the 
spirit of God; and the spirit of fine things will burn in hell with 
consuming fire. Behold a suffering Redeemer and then anticipate 
what trouble is to come on the woild : he said if he was lifted up, he 
would draw all men after him. What can induce us to believe that 
this prophecy is false 1 No, the wicked and the righteous shall suffer. 
If the righteous did bleed and die, shall the sinner escape his mourn- 
ful end ? There is no refuge my brethren in distress, but the favors 
of God ; seek for them dail} r , that ye may know Christ in this world ; 
fori believe the whole earth shall suffer before the great day of 
restitution, which shall come on all flesh. The good and the evil 
will be tried in the resurrection — the ancient day will be restored to 
the world, and remain forever — the sincere Jew and the true hearted 
christian will be brethren : as God and Christ is one, these will be 
without preference or dispute. Equality is the way to rest, despise 
none — hay, wood and stubble shall be consumed with fire unquench- 
able ; that is to say, that which men cannot abate : the prayer of 
kings and councils before the Lord will be in vain, save for righteous- 
ness. The earth will become one people in heart and mind, in the 
the second coming of the Son of God, that is, the will of God 
revealed the second time from heaven. There is no time to delay, 
— the earth is in motion like the sea — the minds of men are troubled 
and there is no rest. Believe my brethren, a change is at hand, the 
most high hath appointed it, and the most established atheist shall 
call on the Lord ; and the unbelieving deist believe in the revelation of 
God. 

Arise, Oh son of truth arise, 
Alight the dark and hidden skies ; 
Appear Oh God on sea and land, 
And give both heaven and earth command. 

Let us measure by the means we receive, and if they do not reach 
to the hills of contentment, or the shores of peace, seek for more. 
The salvation of the mind must be worked out while in the body ; for 
though we may be called in the resurrection of the dead, the wicked 
cannot hope to be happy, and the mind of the wicked is only called 
and quickened to life to suffer for our sins. All things will be tried 






DISAPPOINTMENTS OF THE MIND, 201 

over again between Israel and his foes — the Jews and their enemies 
— the christian and the persecutor — after which I believe that peace 
will reign on earth forever and ever ; and that it is the appointed reign 
of the Messiah, and will not pass away. I believe (although alone) 
that for his name thrones tremble and the pillars of the earth are 
shaken. Am I led into darkness to discover these things ? Or do 
they appear unto you as a display of light, or of God's unbounded 
favors to the soal ? So I both believe and practice, and am comforted 
in the practice of my faith, which commandeth my soul to do good 
and forbids the doing of evil to the human mind. 

Although there 's sorrow in my song, 

My soul doth flee from doing wrong ; 

Although contentment 's far abroad, 

There 's peace with Christ in heaven with God, 

Although I mourn the Lord to see, 
I'll bear no more than 's borne for me ; 
Although I hunger for my bread, 
He mourn'd that was by ^ngels fed. 

Although my heart is cloth'd with fears, 
I've hope still whispering in mine ears ; 
The waters and the streams give way, 
And this is but the ancient day. 

Although my Saviour lived to die, 
And fled that I might for him cry ; 
As Mary sought him I shall find, 
A joyful moment to the mind. 

Although he 's gone to heaven above, 
My distant Saviour still I love ; 
Twas angels promis'd he should come, 
My Saviour and my rising sun. 



July 27th, 1834. 

There is nothing more disappointing than the mind : our thoughts 
are as doves on the wing, seeking rest but finding none. Every 
object seems to disappoint the mind, our thoughts are not under right 
direction, or so many disappointments would not take place : we 
apprehend we see an object to be desired ; but it answers not the 
expected purpose when it is obtained ; and we are left in the 
same condition of mind as before our expected delight appeared. If 



202 IMPRESSIONS OF THE MIND. 

man is not to be comforted, it had been better that he never was 
born into the world ; for what doth life add unto us that are ever in 
disappointments, sorrows and afflictions. My mind has been long at 
this school, but hath not received that which my soul desires : never- 
theless, as these conditions of life is the bread I eat, and the cup of 
my disconsolation, it is needful that I reveal to the world the 
effects of them. Hope is my companion through almost all the 
scenes of life ; dispair excepted; (of which I have a large propor- 
tion and yet do not faint.) All these disappointing changes shew 
us the manifest want there is of direction, and a stay to bear up the 
mind. Where is the traveller in this age, that hath found rest to his 
feet? Where is the throne that is satisfied ; or the council that is 
without defect? W T hen we see all these things, we must conclude 
we are in a world of disappointments, and are in want of an estab- 
lished mind, to stay the thought from seeking after vain things. 
Shall I say the world is not finished ? that God has done his work, 
but we have not done ours ? Moses hath said, whenThe had done his 
work, he entered into rest, and enjoyed what he had done. Moses 
hath penned these things for our justification, that wo may know 
when our work is finished. It is revealed to us hereafter that the 
deity was disappointed in man ; and brought sorrow over his spirit 
that he had made him ; it is not revealed that he was sorrowful for 
any thing but the form of man : to every thing else he hath given 
command, and the world obeys : but we have lost the comforting 
benefit of every thing through sin, by the mind going out from the 
habitation of God, before there was a place of rest : this Moses 
reveals unto us, by our father leaving the garden before there was 
a place of rest prepared on earth for the mind. The garden was 
not a place of contentment ; otherwise, there could have been neither 
want nor prayer; which appeared in that inexperienced place. It 
appears that every thing was present with our parents, but the 
productions of righteousness : the garden was the product of the 
righteousness of God, but not of his people, and this is what the earth 
is wanting till this day; it was wanting in the ancient cities, and 
fields ; and last of all in Jerusalem the City of the most High : Zion 
failed, and Eden is lost, and there is not a happy City beneath the 
Sun — we are partakers of disappointment. We may say a deity 
could not be disappointed ; then we may say, that he has made man 
to turn into hell and suffer for doing what he foresaw he would do. 
This doctrine is too absurd for the human family to believe. If God 
saw all our evil inventions, then he is a combination of all our evil 
thoughts, and the source of sin. I acknowledge he hath given man 
the mind, and given the mind direction, but that he hath drawn every 
line, or appointed every course in which the mind runs, exclusive o» 
his direction, I am not able to prove. The son of God hath said, that 



DISAPPOINTMENTS OF THE MIND. 203 

evil proceedeth from the mind, and he goeth no farther back for the 
original of sin. If we go out from the habitation ot God, that is the 
house of his commands, before the world is blessed to us ; where 
shall we find a resting place ? There is none beyond the appoint- 
ments of God : he hath appointed peace unto us through his com- 
mands, but a disquiet mind through our inventions. It is needful 
that every priest and governor drink deeply of the cup of disappoint- 
ments, and that the shepherd be disappointed in his flock; for we 
have disappointed the Lord ; and his own sorrows he hath visited on 
us. Why did Christ groan in whom the spirit of the most high did 
dwell ? Because God is acquainted with the misery of man, and 
given his own spirit to feel, and know their grief, and bid them come 
away — forsake the transgressing and exalted thought, and be taught 
from the throne of life where the Son of God sitteth forever and ever. 
The spirit of God took our sinful life upon him, in his son Jesus 
Christ ; acquainted his own heart with our grief, in an experimental 
manner: calling unto us for the sacrifice of good works to happify 
the mind. The events of righteousness are in the treasures of the 
Lord, as at the beginning of the world ; but they are retained till 
the day of restitution, when man shall return to God and live. The 
works of men are wanting to make the world happy. While we put 
our trust in any thing but divine revelation we shall be disappointed, 
and the gates of hell will prevail against us : this was the sin of our 
father to trust his mind, and forget God ; and so his children have 
run until this day. But my mind seems drawn backward from the 
race ; for I have found nothing in the world but disappointments, 
neither have I found rest for the feet, nor a quiet place for the mind ; 
for the whole earth is cursed because of sin : the priest may try, and 
the king presume ; but all will end in shame and contempt. Glory- 
is not appointed to kings in heaven, nor salvation to the priest ; all 
will cry with Solomon in the end, "vanity and vexation of spirit." 
And the priests like the prophets, they shall loose their flocks, for 
when disappointment has its effectual place, the whole earth will turn 
to the revealed will of God (by Moses) and know the events of sin 
as our afflicted father; and trust no more in invention nor the devi- 
ces of the mind. The world is at a good school ; the king is learn- 
ing the fallibility of his power; and the priest the ignorance and 
weakness of his voice, the fallibility of his acquired parts, his College 
accomplishments, with all his parents can do for him. Where is there 
a man left any more that we may trust in for the salvation of the 
world ? The shepherds are gone astray, and the flocks are lost, — 
seeking from hill to hill — from city to city ; but find no rest. Is 
there anything better than for us to turn to that we have left undone, 
and live according to Moses, and the Prophets, and the revealed will 
of God through his Son Jesus Christ ? If he is appointed our Prince, 



204 IMPRESSIONS OF THE MIND. 

and Saviour, his Gospel, must rule over us ; if our everlasting father, 
we must obey ; the mind becomes small in invention — the lamp of 
nature departs from us ; and we become servants of the Lord ; fol- 
lowing the dictates of Moses and the Prophets, and every word that 
proceeded out of the mouth of God by his Son Jesus Christ. The 
princes of the earth must come to this, the priest must live by it as 
his bread from heaven. I am not doubtful of these things, the Pro- 
phets that foretold the birth of the Messiah yet liveth as parts of the 
divinity that abideth in one body forever. All these are as lights, as 
signs, or as suns : angels to convict, convince, and convert us from 
self trust, or confidence in an unconverted mind, to the power of 
God in life, and his word amidst the soul ; but till we receive the 
lesser we cannot receive the greater mercies of the Lord ; and thus 
God will prove the authenticity and authority of the scriptures by 
troubling the world ; confounding deism, and disappointing the learn- 
ed, till all shall bow and humble themselves before the mighty God, 
the Saviour of [srael : for this purpose are we at the school of disap- 
pointments, where nothing has its desired effect, and there we shall 
remain till a change of life, till our clothing is put off, and we return 
naked to Eden again. The king is sitting with a crown on his head 
as a distinguished mark of power and glory ; the priest as though he 
was worthy of tribute, and these two cannot comfort one hungering, 
thirsting soul in life ; and many under them are in the same condition. 
The sooner I despair of hope in these Images, the better it is for me ; 
and I will hasten my way back (in a spiritual sense) to the habitation 
of my father and mother, where and when they were naked before 
the Lord. They were not clothed with office nor interest ; neither 
were crowns of honor placed upon them ; all is vanity and vexation 
of spirit. The revealed will of the Lord is the salvation of the mind : 
this is the habitation I wish to obtain, and I shall not be disappointed. 
It is where the glory of man ceaseth ; and the Lord reigneth, where 
he is obeyed ; but in all the inventions and devices of the mind, there 
is disappointment, wailing and gnashing of the teeth ; men hunger- 
ing and 'receiving not, thirsting and no living spring. It is a prize 
to obtain the favours of the Lord ; and the richest jewel, the bright- 
est diamond — the most precious stone or fruitful field, is the revealed 
will of the Father through his Son Jesus Christ. The Prophets are 
wanting to Israel, and Jesus to the Christian world ; for in these we 
should have truth without lies, and hope without disappointment ; and 
tribulation is appointed as our school of necessity, to teach us the 
want of these characters. Moses and the Prophets are as stars of 
light to convey us to the soul, or inner man. Christ is the image of 
the Father in the midst of us, and he hath revealed unto us the afflic- 
tions of God's spirit, when he groaned on the cross, and expressed 
unto us the love of God for the world ; but according to appoint* 



DISAPPOINTMENTS OF THE MtTCD. 'i(35 

ment man must labour for his own meat : the subjects cannot happify 
the king ; nor the king the people : the governors cannot speak peace 
to the world, nor the priest save his people from the miseries of the 
age. 

What can my mournful soul convey, 

This dark and tribulated day ; 

When stars are dim nor suns arise, 

To humble man nor make him wise ? 

My soul shall wait an hour or too, 
To see what kings and priests" can do ; 
Or I from action will refrain, 
Until I see their deeds are vain. 

I find my soul in Adam's case, 

Far, far removed out of place, 

And where I'm strange doth kings arise, 

And priests do feed with vain supplies. 

Equality 's decreed for man, 
Each his allotment and his span ; 
And this is God's unchanged decree, 
All, all shall labor and be free. 

And thus at first the world was made, 
God calls for tribute that 's unpaid ; 
Purchase the ground where man shall hear, 
Where suns are bright and stars are clear ; 
And man's bright eyes shall plainly see, 
That all his deeds are vanity. 

We cannot behold any thing that will comfort the mind ; we can- 
not find comfort oy digging, nor ascending; we cannot purchase it 
by applying to thrones, or trusting in a priest. It is God's unmer- 
ited gift, it cometh of his free will and pleasure, when invention is 
spent, and devices cometh to nothing. Nevertheless it is needful 
for all the sons of Adam to know of these miseries that are out of 
the garden, as well as to know what Eden contains. 

Peace at first was not given to man, but a service, or a work to 
to be done, after which the soul resteth. 

God hath drawn the l ; ne ; he hath appointed the course, and until 
it is fulfilled, all is unhappy. Our father was placed in the world. 
Eden was one condition of the mind, and out of it is another ; all 
must be known to know the power and love of God, the inventions 
of the mind and the frailty of human life. There is no resting out 
of the habitation of the Lord, that is his courts where he teacheth 
his people. 



206 impressions op the mind. 

I have no doubt of superiority falling to the ground ; there never 
was priest, prophet or king, that had received knowledge of the 
power and wisdom of the Lord, and the insufficiency of the mind, 
but were a humble and low hearted people, content with small things, 
neither asking tribute or honour of the world. 

Humility and praise, 

Sisters together join, 
Companions of king David's days, 

The comforts of his mind. 

Come near unto my breast, 

Ye twins that do agree, 
Ye pillars of my lasting rest, 

And built by God's decree. 

Oh all within give way, 

These princes wise and strong, 
Are as the rising stars of day, 

My trumpet and my song. 

Awake my thoughts to hear, 

From distant hills return; 
Your kingdom and your God is near, 

Oh cease my soul to mourn. 

The highest hills are vain, 

Nor doth bright suns arise, 
Where princes boast and kings do reign, 

The people are unwise. 

Captivity decreed, 

The sons of sin are bound, 
Where princes reign and shepherds feed, 

Man over man is crown'd. 



September 5th, 1834. 

The extent of the mind is only measured by the pleasure of God, 
and the bounds thereof are not known unto men ; and the productions 
are the evidences of the mind. God can give or take away, lengthen 
or shorten as he will. He assumeth the right of command, and his 
spirit receiveth honour ; and it is his due for all that he doeth beyond 
the power and abilities of men. We behold him in the billows and 
in the wind ; and who can say unto these be still in their appointed 
time to rage 1 or unto the storm, cease from thy extending power ? 



EXTENT OF THE MIND. 207 

He that cannot command the billows of the sea, nor the beating of 
the storm, hath no power over his own mind ; and like the mariner, 
and the storm cometh, the mind is troubled, and the poor subject, 
man, obeys the extremities of the storm. God is right in the storm 
and in the calm, in peace and in war, and man is never wrong save 
when he disobeys his Maker's will, and conjectures paths of his 
own; and in these God meeteth him in a right time and way, and 
bringeth in the cause of stumbling in due season. If not so, who 
is he that is the Lord? I believe that a man may improve his mind 
and enjoy it, though his brethren may be astray, or his father an 
alien to the truth. If not so, where are the rewards of the righteous? 
They cannot be sealed up in the bosom of other men. A man only 
knoweth his mind by improvement, as the travelling man knoweth 
the way. As extending sparks are evidences of the fire, so are 
swelling words of what is below or from whence they came. 

A man knoweth not his own mind, for he knoweth not to-day what 
he will do the morrow, neither can he boast of it. He only knoweth 
the part improved ; what is to come remaineth with him as an untra- 
versed wilderness, as an unmeasured sea. There are no bounds to 
the mind but in God's will ; he setteth bounds where he will, and 
there is no passing them by. We may struggle like the prisoner in 
chains, — we may rise a little, and fall again ; there is nothing that 
can stand but the decrees of God, and these remain forever. 
The Scriptures are a true word of prophecy. Many are rising up 
against them, but in vain. These are the evidences of ancient 
minds, and the latter days will not exceed them in power, strength 
and glory ; for as the child receiveth, the glory of the teacher passeth 
away, and he is no more. As the low, humble, and moderate classes 
of the world is enlightened, the glory of office and the priesthood 
will fall to the ground, which now sitteth as on a throne, giving 
decrees to the people. He that liveth many years will see the 
scholar equal with his master, and the hearer with his priest ; and 
craft and tribute will fall to the ground. Let us consider that the 
mind is the Lord's ; it proceeded out from him. He is the proper 
master, and teacher of the soul. He will reign over us forever. 
We cannot become his equal. He is everlastingly our Lord and 
our God. There is abundance of craft in existence. The end is 
honour and profit to the masters of the age ; they love to be called 
Rabbi, and many schemes are used to obtain the title. I have 
refused to be taught by our present masters, and have turned back 
to the ancient school if possible where Moses was taught, and the 
prophets heard from heaven what they should say ; and the query 
may arise, where am I now? I readily reply, I am with my bre- 
thren, but in communion with my own soul, which is the property 
of God, and the spirit he hath given unto men. 



208 IMFKESSI0N3 OF THE MIXD. 

God hath a right to direct the mind in all the turns of life ; and 
what is this we can do one for the other? We can do much for our 
neighbours in the service of God. If thou seest a sluggard that 
doth not cultivate his field, or hedge his ground, thou canst go to his 
door or bed-side early in the day, and say unto him, Friend, arise, 
the day cometh when thou will stand in need of bread ; arise and 
cultivate the field that God hath given, or improve thy mind and 
reap, for I have done so before thee and know that it is good, and I 
must yet labour. When I improve one field God giveth another ; 
when I improve one talent or part of the mind, God enlarges it, and 
I know not when my service will be done, or how large my mind 
should be : the farther it extends, the richer I am in the mercies of 
God. Come walk with me, and let it continue until God seeth that 
it is enough, and he requires the living soul to remain in these bodies 
of clay no more. The cultivator bringeth forth the harvest, but the 
sluggard nothing ; he remains as he was born, save a little the worse ; 
he was born prone to sin, but when he groweth up he practises it. 
This is an evidence of the condition of his soul, that it is in the hands 
and power of sin and satan ; and God will not be his Redeemer till 
he worketh the work of repentance, and bringeth forth these eviden- 
ces that he is the servant of God. 

Every thing proveth for itself, and the mind is not concealed but 
for a short space of time, measured by Moses when he speaketh of 
the evening of the day of our father and mother when they had lost 
the favours of Eden. They soon brought forth an evidence of the 
mind. But the industrious man, or the laborious traveller, steppeth 
farther and farther out of the reach of temptation ; but lest he should 
take up his rest too soon, the governor of the mind letteth go of his 
hand as a child to let him see if he can walk alone, and the child 
slideth, falleth, hurteth himself, repenteth of his footsteps and taketh 
hold more fastly on his father's hand than before, for now he knoweth 
his soul is not in safety ; he is yet in the reach of temptation, and in 
danger of falling to rise no more. All that God doeth we see is good, 
as we pass forward in the mind. We would be very willing to reap 
an early harvest, like our father in Eden ; but it is the will of God 
we should sow before we reap, and if we sow iniquity we will reap 
the same, and the soul or mind shall be convinced by its own deeds 
of right and wrong, for the Lord is judge over us and seemingly 
knoweth all we do. There is a possibility of acting by command, 
and of our limbs obeying the will of God, and of our hands and 
tongue giving him much praise. The mind hath a needful master, 
for it was not given to walk alone at any time. No soul hath done 
this and remained to be glorious. Their garments hath been shame 
and the contempt of the Almighty for such an action. The man is 
never so glorious as when he is the humble servant of the Most High 



EXTENT OF THE MIND. 209 

God. This station of life would not hurt the king. It would be as 
a sun of light to Congress men, and they would disagree no more ; 
but from many masters cometh a division of servants, and in the whole 
space of the earth, where men have power, servants and subjects 
are divided one against the other. There is no turning from this 
stage of action but by turning a little nearer to God ; the soul is his 
gift. Then why should not every man improve it 7 and it would be 
better than gazing on the divided Rabbies of our days. You see in 
the beginning our souls are in one likeness, and that in the image 
of our father as Moses has by his hand-writing discovered unto us; 
for he is a true historian of the first stage of the soul ; and God has 
made no distinction from that day to this. We are all prone to sin ; 
and as for other abilities it is beyond the power of the pen to minutely 
distinguish : there are no contradictions in that which is good, neither 
is God divided against himself, if so, we may say that it is right that 
good gifts be in controversy with each other; but if we are of one 
mind before sin, we will be of one mind when we repent of it ; and 
form a peaceable kingdom. What has Rabbies to do with a peni- 
tent ? No more than Satan has to do with a Christian : he only serves 
to torment him, and make his days the worse ; he doeth him no more 
good, than the physician to the man in health. So are our present 
Rabbies ruling and tormenting the minds of simple honest people 
that hath no need of them ; they are continually dividing the people, 
and making the condition of life worse. These are the evidences of 
the mind of this world, the present teachers and rulers that are in it ; 
discontent abounds and the soul is not satisfied. 

We must travel a little farther, my brethren, by the gift of God. 
As the eye is the light of the body, the uncorrupted mind is the light 
of action; and he that hath seen must tell his brother that he may 
see ; and he that reapeth must declare it is good that action should 
be done, for it is as seed sown in the earth, from whence cometh a 
good reward ; it convinces the mind, it increaseth wealth, it addeth 
to the City, it establishes faith, it reneweth hope, it satisfieth the 
mind, it increaseth thirst ; it is as the Spring, it createth hunger ; it 
is as the bread, it addeth life, it is all things of which we stand in 
need : it bringeth in a flow of blessings, a harvest to the mind. 
Now, my brethren, let us subject ourselves to good counsels in early 
age, and when we are old we will not depart from them. It was the 
great error of our father that he would not be advised ; it was the 
downfall of Israel, and the destruction of the Christian world. God 
hath sent his Son to advise, till he shall come himself; but he will 
appear to the penitent, as to the child ; he will be all power over him ; 
he will direct his mind as he did our father in Eden. We see by 
Moses how it grew in extent before sin, but how his light was put out 
and his joys diminished after — how the work of his own devices had 



210 IMPRESSIONS OF THE MIND. 

not acceptance with God — how he could not cover himself by 
making aprons. These are God's revelations to the world, that by 
these observations and remarks made by Moses we should know 
ourselves. Moses became a servant of God before he wrote these 
things ; his history of man is the book of experience ; and the 
productions of the mind proveih unto us that Moses is both a true 
prophet and evangelist of the most high God. Moses doth not 
encourage a continuance in sin, neither hath he painted the deeds of 
sin with the power of temptation ; but stained them with grief, 
woe, and shame, that we may shun them forever. Moses saith, 
believe in me, for I come from the Lord ; but now Moses is divided 
against himself; he is every where, and travelling every way, into 
Egypt and out of it: making contradictory laws and creeds, and 
every priest has become the Moses of his congregation, and every 
member must Aaron unto him ; till alas for scattered Israel ! who 
will redeem ? Who will bring together that which they have strewed 
abroad ? The harvest will be great, the servant will leave his master, 
and the disciple his Lord, and God will send help unto them from 
heaven, and the servant shall become as his master, and the disciple 
as his Lord, in those days, and man shall rule over man no more. 
These are the productions of the mind. 



Sing, my soul, nor cease to praise ; 
The rising sun that lights thy days 
Doth more and more to thee reveal, 
And still unmeasured grace conceal. 

Oh, rolling and most troubled sea, 
Like to the mind that troubles me ; 
There 's none that can direct thy ways, 
My song, my sorrows, nor my praise. 

The storms descend by great command, 
The winds are in a mighty hand ; 
And when he bids the billows cease, 
The winds and waves are all at peace. 

My soul, my soul, is taught by these, 
Storms come and go by God's decrees ; 
And so my soul must live and know, 
How God doth govern worlds below. 



I 211 } 



September 28th, 1834. 

The mind of the Deity is the original of all existence. But our 
minds are fashioned according to this present world, when we are 
unthoughtful from whence we came, and who it is that giveth life and 
being, and every capacity to do good to these that stand in need of 
friendship, and to honour the author of our being. What we see 
are to us the evidences of the mind of a Deity ; that we may believe 
there is art existing God, the worlds are in a regular course of order. 
The sun and the storm, beyond the power of the human mind, they 
are established forever, that every generation may believe there 
is an existing God, immutable in his ways, and remains to be the 
same to his offspring, the breath of his own soul, the life of his 
creature man. Our minds are like unto the air, the earth, and the 
sea. The better we know ourselves, the more we form an acquaint- 
ance with God : we are the proceeds of the most high ; and the 
workman or builder is known by the work. We have every evidence 
of the extent of a Deity ; that he is unsearchable and past finding 
out; worthy of praise for what is revealed ; and secret and sacred 
things remaining in him worthy of seeking. Wisdom has no end, 
therefore the joys of the righteous are forever. Every divine attri- 
bute discovered, is as a pearl of high price to the mind ; it fadefh 
not away, nor departeth again : what God is to-day he is forever : 
perfect in all his ways, with the creation. I will not distrust him 
that I have known, for a stranger, although he should descend from 
the court of kings, or from a throne in Israel — the highest priest in 
existence. I will tell of the workmen as I discover the work, or of 
the great building, as God reveals to my spirit. The mind is like the 
air, because it is at some times clouded from every light under 
heaven, and the soul mourns as the flock without the shepherd ; 
there is no rest to the wandering mind neither doth he know when 
or where he will receive a smile from the Deity, or when the cloud 
will depart from the mind ; he is helpless as the clay, he has no 
power above. God delights that we should mourn, that we may be 
comforted. A long calm leadeth the unthoughtful mind into ease, 
and forgetfulness of God. We know not when the storm will arise, 
and the lights of heaven be obscured, and the Son of righteousness 
depart from us. These changes are the moving hand of a Deity, my 
mind is in subjection to these : I am bound to comply and testify to 
all the earth that there is no resisting the decrees of God : he maketh 
the sinner his own through the atonement of repentance, and doeth 
with him what he will, he taketh his mantle off from days that were 
of old, causeth the Saints and the Prophets to enlighten the mind, as 
the brightest stars do the heavens above ; he collects them together 
o2 



212 IMPRESSIONS OF THE MIND. 

as the constellations of the mind. He causes the life of his Son to 
rise as the principal light of this world ; and thus he illuminates that 
dark mansion called the sinner's mind. These that do not discover 
these things are too ready to deny there is an existing God. Our 
thoughts are swift as lightning in the air. Who directs them, or by 
whose command do they pass as from the east to the western skies ? 
Their changes are unsusceptible, to us unaccounted for, and unknown 
to the human mind. We can only say that so it is ; but the com- 
mand we know not, nor by what spirit they are directed as swift 
as lightning through the mind. Therefore we must humbly acknowl- 
edge, Lord thou hast power over us past finding out, and turneth the 
mind into heaven or hell as thou wilt, for sorrow and joy are at thy 
command. Thou settest the plant in the earth, and blesseth it from 
heaven. Thou emplanteth just principles in the upright mind, thou 
buildest thine house or throne upon them ; and none can overthrow 
what thou hast done. Thou causeth the tree to bear after its own 
kind. And so are these to thee producing glory and honor to thy 
unmeasured name forever. The body passeth away into the earth 
and ariseth no more, but life and being are immortal and forever. As 
the earth produceth for our health, strength, and abilities ; the mind 
delighteth in the earth, because it is thy vineyard yielding honour 
to thy most sacred name ; pleasure and profit to the soul. The earth 
cherishes our belief; it is an evidence of thee : its proceeds are 
various and in abundance. In the earth, we see ourselves as in a 
glass. The obedient or obeying earth produceth at thy command — 
drinketh in the rain, and bringeth forth to thy glory ; so is the mind of 
the upright, they produce much good to the creation, and as we are 
many we are one for the other. Man is not to be alone, his neighbour 
is to comfort him, give as God has given, and remain a standing mon- 
ument of God's evidences in the earth. Here we see the mind is 
like the earth, able through God to comfort those that stand in need; 
and where we sow, another should reap the soil,) I mean where we 
labour in the services of the Gospel) others should receive the benefit, 
and we should be comforted with them, for this is the just event of a 
righteous deed. Our minds are like the sea, because they are never 
still ; like the needle to the pole so do' the thoughts of man seek 
the centre of his soul — or place of rest. While the mind is agitated, 
our thoughts are not in heaven, the sea is never still, till the Lord 
commands a calm ; but then doth winds and waves obey ; and man 
can no more form a rest to his mind, or build a refuge against the 
storm, than he can command the sea, or clothe the storm with a 
mantle : as to these things he is powerless, The Lord would not 
be our God had he not reserved power and glory to himself to com- 
mand the sea ; if the tempest should continue to rage, we would not 
believe, but as the storm obeys we believe there is an existing God, 



THE MIND OF THE DEITY. 213 

What is the mind but a composition of thought that God governs by 
the event of our deeds, whether they are good or ill. The little mind 
is happy without deeds, and mourneth without a cause. The Lord 
is there in the mind of the infant doing as he will, till the day of 
command, and then we are required to act for ourselves, and put out 
a hand to the deeds of cultivation, I mean the improvement of the 
mind, that we may reap or gather from ourseves a blessing for our 
work ; and our deeds are as a second creation or birth to the mind ; 
if good, the mind improves in sense, praise and revelation ; if ill, our 
days are worse — our lamp goeth out, or command departeth, unful- 
filled ; and we are left without a friend in life as a stranger in the 
night, and wander we know not where, or what will be the event of 
our straying paths. If it were in my power I would convince the 
world of the undeparting benefits of righteousness. But there is no 
other way appointed for the sinner, or lost world but to seek and 
then find, and I cannot change the decrees of God. If our deeds 
are evil, we gather but little more than the thorn or thistle from 
them ; for these plants produce affliction when we gather them ; and 
but small are the comforts of life that proceedeth from the thorn. 
As these are to the flesh, so are our evils to the mind. God is in 
the event of all our deeds ; and he that caused the thorn to spring 
out of the earth and the thistle to rise in the field of the 'cultivator, 
hath caused a restless and fearful discontent to arise in the mind of 
the wicked ; and death is the king of terrors to his soul : he is then 
to be cut off from his last hope of earthly things, and gather the 
blessings of the Lord from the fields no more. Why doth death 
terrify the mind, if he is not the appointment of the Lord, sent to 
take away what he hath given ? i. e. life to man ; why is he not 
embraced as a welcome messenger ? he is sent of God, why should 
we resist or repine at his coming? Life came unto us unsought ; 
and he that giveth taketh away, and many return unto the Lord 
without works, as they were born into the world ; for so doth sleep- 
ing infants go down to the grave. 

Oh that years may increase our understanding ; that the young 
may be clothed with wisdom that the Lord would reveal his will to the 
shepherds of this age. Oh that parents may mourn with acceptable 
sorrow for their offspring, to the God of Jacob and of Israel. Oh 
that their prayers may be formed in the heart, through the still 
watches of the night, and come forth in the morning before the rising 
sun, that they may have acceptance with God ; and the aged atone 
for their young ; that they may receive wisdom, and implant in the 
mind, as the plant in the field ; for the Lord blesses the deeds of 
wisdom, and sendeth rain and dew from heaven upon them. Im- 
prove the mind my brethren, first your own, and then your neighbors. 
Who will fill your lips with precepts when the servants of the Lord 
o3 



214 IMPRESSIONS OF THE MIND. 

are taken from the earth ? What will become of your little ones 
when you have no minister from the Lord ? Work while it is to-day, 
we know no farther than we see, and can say nothing of to-morrow ; 
the Lord revealeth to whom he will, and from whom he will he 
taketh away, and the days of the wicked grow worse and worse, till 
his body goeth to the grave, and his soul to where there is no rest , 
to receive the event of our deeds till the day of restitution ; when 
every soul that sinneth against God, shall confess and repent with 
humility and fear. 

These days are filled with hope, and my soul shall receive as 
follows : 

A world of blessings forms the store, 

And all the just assemble there ; 
Their souls do rest forevermore, 

Relieved from service and from care. 

Blest morning, how the sun doth rise ! 

And shine on all the hills of praise ; 
And stars are fixed in the skies, 

To tell of my Redemer's ways. 

Oh cloudless morn, how bright and clear! 

The clouds depart, the storm doth cease $ 
My soul's unclouded from my fear, 

My spirit sees eternal peace. 

No deaths pervade — nor foes ensue, 

No sorrow nor no flowing tears ; 
Here Israel's God receives his due, 

The end of grief and troubled yearso 



October 30th, 1834. 

How beautiful are the laws of the Lord ! Our pathway to happj f 
ness, our footsteps to peace ! By these I shall see good and evil, by 
these, I shall obtain the things of God, that were made and created 
for my soul. 

The heart or mind is the table of the Lord, on which he impresses 
the laws of life. From this law I am minded to write of the purposes 
of the creation— the visible things of God; the spirit and benefit — ■ 
the purposes, and fulfilment, of the world. It is a day of rest with 
my mind. I have passed through much sorrow, and written to the 
world of the mind, and though I may see things imperfectly, there if 



THE. LAWS OF THE LORD. 215 

a beginning to all things, and this last short but comprehensive 
history may be right in the end ; and discover the errors of the 
beginning. It is easy to speak after Moses ; but I am minded to 
refrain and speak for myself. The world was long made before 
Moses saw it; or ever his person was born into the world ; yet he 
speaks of the beginning and the end ; and the whole history is his 
conception of the matter ; which I believe to be the truth, but imper- 
fectly understood by those that read the records of his hand. It is 
not in my heart to add or diminish from the work, justify or condemn 
from the few broken hints I may give. 

My salvation or peace of mind doth not consist in what Moses 
saw, wrote or did ; I must seek and find, and then obtain. For 
me to look over the whole earth, to come to a knowledge of the 
works of God is impossible. Every created being has a spirit within 
itself, and is Lord and master of both body and mind, and teaches 
us all we know. There is a growth to perfection in every thing that 
is created — the herb, the plant, the tree, the brute, the man : there 
is life in all these, either animate or inanimated being, there is but 
one source from whence all arise, and all have a connection in the 
original of all things. The man, the brute, the tree, the herb, the 
plant, with the least insect that hath existence, every being glorifies 
the Creator. 

There is no sin, but a transgression of nature's laws : every thing 
hath received direction from the Creator that descendeth downward, 
orgroweth upward, in all he is the laws of life. The child may be 
governed by a written Jaw, or parent's care, till he cometh to a 
knowledge of himself; after which the Creator assumes the power 
and glory over the whole mind. These are lines of experience : I 
write not from history, tables of stone, nor the heart of Moses; 
(though far surpassing mine,) but the pathway of my travels, and 
the discovery of the journey as though I had been looking on the 
fields and cities, rivers and seas; and these were a journal of my 
days. It is not so with me : I have pursued what I thirsted for, as 
the thirsty for water ; and now discover by seeking what I find. I 
am at rest, though alone ; no visionary characters frighten me, 
neither do our present saints make me afraid. I still pursue the 
lonesome journey; my lot is now and then a crumb of satisfaction, 
and a drop of water to cool a thirsting mind ; I suffer long and obtain 
little, but I receive by the law of life, and none taketh it away. I 
earnestly seek for the grave. The walls of the tomb are to me 
unseen, death is hidden from mine eyes, and I continue to see, that 
which I have not known. I am confident that wisdom has no end, 
nor a Creator a beginning. But he begins to discover his deeds to 
man, and reveal himself to the mind, by all his hands hath made and 
created. 



216 impressions or the ills©. 

The first discover}* that Mosss made was light ; and without this 
heavenly light, we see nothing. By nature the mind of man is as 
deep waters, we know not what it contains, nor what time will bring 
forth from the mind ; but he that hath light seeth one thing after 
another, as Moses saw the worlds created. Now I will make my 
own remarks on this divine light : historians may say it was the sun : 
this opinion will do better for a comparison than the substance, 
because the sun is a fountain or source of light : but by the sun 
I can see nothing but a few rods from mine eyes ; neither do I believe 
that by the light .of the sun any created being ever saw how the 
worlds were made ; it is the light of the mind. The word of God, 
that gives intelligence to the mind : by his word were the worlds made 
and the line drawn in the heavens above ; and he that is possessed 
of this divine nature., has a law in his heart, written by the hand of 
God, and needeth tables no more — a parental father to direct his 
steps, nor written law to clothe his mind. He sees the pillars of the 
earth laid, and he possesses as great abilities as he that is born to be 
a king ; and is heir to a throne here below. He finds his body preg- 
nant with life, and his soul in every part of it ; for no part can be 
injured, but his mind can feel the pain ; and sympathize with a bleed- 
ing body, or a smarting wound. The body can be persecuted till 
the mind can stay no longer in it ; The mind fleeth to another habi- 
tation and the bod)* is dead. There is no death, but, the mind 
absenting the body — like the tenant relinquishing the dwelling, and 
the house is known no more. Soul and body is put together in 
perfect shape : mind and earth connected. Is there any thing more 
true than this, that the mind giveth life to a form of clay ? All ani- 
mate and inanimated life returns from whence it came. There is no 
being that endureth forever but the mind ; this is the word of God to 
all the earth. But as the creation came to light one day after another, 
man cannot walk alone when he is first created ; and though perfectly 
made, he cannot lean upon his own mind, so Moses speaks of our 
fallen father. There are two languages in the mind, and our minds 
speak with a double tongue unto us, to do both good and ill. And 
here cometh in the fall of the mind, by doing the latter, and leaving 
the former undone. The event convinces him that there is sin ; and 
when he seeth he is a sinner, he hath divine light given him, and a 
sun has risen in his heart he never knew before ; and this sun is the 
saviour and redeemer of the world. The event of sin teaches him 
he has a master, that never knew subjection till he is a fallen man. 
He is unhappy, — he seeketh that which he needeth — -he is a stranger 
far from home, and his own soul is discontent with his untolerated 
freedom, and seeketh a governor to the mind : for God hath not said 
we should obey the ill, but the mind hath desired it, and come to the 
knowledge of right and wrong on earth : he seemeth at a distance 






THE LAWS OF THE LORD. 217 

from the inheritance of God. As the living stream never rests till 
it finds the bosom of the sea ; so the soul never is content, till wholly 
united to the original from whence life and being at first came. This 
pilgrimage from sin to the bosom of God, is the mental and experi- 
mental knowledge of the creation, and we observe not all in one day, 
and it may take me for one short age of years to finish this. 






November 1st, 1834. 

All things that are are right, and not any thing hath been removed 
from its place since the worlds began. Providence is every where 
and overseeth all things. I shall be but short on the deeds of sin and 
righteousness, as the latter originates in God and the former in man. 
The mind of this world overnoweth with creeds and doctrines, but 
they have not removed the cause of sin; nor exalted to the throne, 
(in this personal kingdom) the name of righteousness : righteousness 
never did reign since the world was created and two put together by 
the hand of God. We generate evil, because our minds are so to 
do ; and if we did not, we would not know ourselves to be the 
weaker or lesser part of experience ; but sin bringeth in or introdu- 
ces the superiority of a judge to abase a sinning mind. The Lord 
loveth sinners, as the husband the field, from which he receiveth 
wealth, honour and glory from the workmanship of his hand ; so doth 
the Deity from the heart of a sinner. The forgiving of sins by the 
Deity, extolls and promotes the noblest praise of God. Is this not 
right ? If not so, why was it ever found in the heart of man so to do ? 
Is there one right in the creation, if this is not right? No, not one 
— an early conviction is right, and our chastisements are the rebukes 
of love. Could we form a world ourselves we have not the pattern, 
nor the mind that could exceed this. 

We are not to look back to Moses for all things that pertain to the 
creation ; but take up things as they are, and look forward. The 
Lord hath created many since the days of Adam ; but never hath 
he thrown away the old pattern, or changed the disposition of the 
rChild. The last child that is born into the world, is as innocent in 
temper and action as the first man that God, made in whom there is 
no error ; consequently there can be nothing wrong. But if we 
may proceed on a little farther, we come to the necessity of a man 
knowing his own mind — because it is the offspring of God. And as 
every thing is known by what it bears, or produces — there is no other 
measure given man ; but the product, to come to knowlege of the 
truth. The mind as it is, is God's own will or pleasure, he giveth 
to the first and the last without control, such a mind as he will. Our 
jminds are capable of feeliing, of seeing, of containing an innumera- 



21 S IMPRESSIONS OF THE JIIXD. 

ble multitude of thoughts. The mind is an unmeasured spirit. As 
God is unknown, so are the heights and dephs of the mind. Sin and 
righteousness are obvious changes of the thought, as the atmosphere 
changes from the cloud to the shining sun. In all this, we see the 
revealed deeds of the Deity; and who would love a friend without 
favors ? Or who would love a God that would show us no compas. 
sion in distress ? 

The events of sin are not agreeable, and are therefore not account* 
ed right. We cannot presume to find out failings in the deeds^f a 
Creator's hand, and still we must acknowledge that every sorfland 
daughter that is born of a woman are prone to sin, and on the other 
hand are as prone to salvation through and by the merits and rttri- 
butes of God. There are two distinct natures in one mind : to do 
good and to do ill is the mind of man; nevertheless we have but one 
Governor over both these dispositions that sets bounds or tolerates 
the faculties of the soul to act. This may suffice at present. I 
hope 1 have hit on the truth as far as I have advanced, and have left 
no room for contradictions after me. All things are right. We 
come to a sense of the mind by our acting abilities, (and so I believe 
Moses came to the knowledge of God.) We come to the knowledge 
of sin by the event of it, and righteousness by the attending blessing 
for the deed. Now who will not acknowledge by these measures 
that sin is wrong, and that righteousness is right? and none but the 
repenting sinner measures out the things of God in this way, and 
acknowledges the Scriptures are true, from these practical lines that 
are in him, that book or table called the soul. 

In all this we say not that God hath appointed or ordained sin ; 
but it originates in the activity of the mind, before it is known to a 
governor, or judge to preside over it; but as the sentence of a pow* 
erful judge terrifies and heals the converted criminal from disease, 
so doth the convicting and converting word of God change the acti- 
vity of the mind. And we find the soul possessed of abilities to do 
good, as equally we have known there was excitement in the mind 
to do wrong, and every act that convinces us of the power of a Deity 
cannot be in vain ; for, as Moses hath said in the creation, God saw 
all things that he did was good : and truly he could not have made 
such a great mistake as to have overlooked the mind of man, the 
most noble and ingenious of all his works, (if we may so say,) an 
image of his own. I now argue that I see my creation right, and 
the turns of the mind and changes of the thought. The event of 
action hath brought me to some knowledge of the Deity; his anger 
which produces fear, and his love which affects the mind to praise. 
And as far as I have advanced I see the works of my Creator and 
Redeemer right. I read these things in mine own soul, and am not 
indebted to the world. 



[ 219 ] 

November 2nd, 1S34. 
THE WORLD'S EVIDENCE FOR A DEITY. 

The creation proves his spiritual existence. It was by the crea- 
tion and sublime evidences that Moses came to the knowledge of 
God ; he was no man's servant in his hand-writing, but his history 
in many passages are evidently the productions of the mind. That 
Moses ever saw the worlds created by the light of the sun I believe 
not, but that he saw the world and the things thereof come to light 
in himself, and he wrote of them as they arose. He wrote in ob- 
scuring figures ; nevertheless he made things as plain to our under- 
standing as our unseeing minds could observe. What God com- 
mended, he said appeared. Every building hath a corner and chief 
foundation stone, which is and whom he calls the Lord. In this 
name he wrote to the children of Israel ; his heart was not only a 
history of past things, but prophetically revealed that which was to 
come. Now, I presume, we may see as clear in this age as Moses 
did, if it should be the pleasure of God to reveal any thing to the 
mind. The mind is the man of his will, mourns and rejoices at his 
command, rises and falls his precepts to obey. Where did Moses 
contain his skill of revelation before his hand-writing? In the mind 
without doubting. Then all he knew was contained in the mind ; 
and the moon and stars, rivers nor seas, days nor night, seas nor dry 
land were never there, neither did this sun that lights the globe ever 
rise in the heart of Moses. He was not born when the worlds were 
made, nor Adam neither. Then no man revealed these things to 
Moses, nor ever was there a man in life that ever saw the worlds 
begun. Now, I will give my sentiment of the times, and pass for- 
ward. The Lord continues to reveal. He cannot be known by 
ascending in balloons or digging into the earth ; and the whole hand- 
writing of Moses is to convince the world there is a God. He, 
Moses, was no better child when he was born than Abraham his 
father ; but Abraham saw one thing, and he and seeking ages ever 
£nd, and reveal the wisdom of God unto the world, so the whole of 
the books are composed called the sacred writings. They are all 
the productions of the mind and the revelation of God. 

These do not excuse any person from seeking that which is 
unknown ; and I believe that God will reveal himself to the world 
by ways that hath never reached the thought of man. Nature, so 
called, is almost ripe, and human invention near to an end. The 
world is preparing for a fall, and rise again ; and the penitent mind 
Jiath gone beforehand to the pit or furnace, and there been refined 
$nd rose again. These reveal the changes of a subduing, enliven- 



220 IMPRESSIONS OF THE MIND. 

ing, and creating hand. And as one has gone or more, so all will 
go before this world will see the Sabbath that Moses tells of. When 
God was reconciled to or with his works, he blessed all, and all rested 
in concert, harmony and peace. This was the reformation in the 
mind of Moses. He knew all the propensities of the fallen sinner, 
the rise, the inheriting of Eden, of standing in the presence of God, 
of knowing his will, and revealing it to the world ; and thus began 
his visions of heavenly light, and speaketh by the might and power 
of God. I will now speak again for myself, and as far as I have 
seen reveal to my brethren : not in imitation of another, but of my 
own soul. We are all in the hands of God, and must receive what 
he giveth ; bitter or sweet, sorrow or joy, all are revelations of his 
command. He that seeth the creation rising in his mind according 
to its religious and temporal usefulness, saw as Moses saw, he owns 
the operations of God's Spirit on his rnind, and one thing after ano- 
ther is brought to light in him. 



November 5th, 1834. 

Life is one united and spiritual body, or world — the Deity and 
direction of the universe : ever changing the garment going and 
coming, and is ever the same. What is the birth and death of a man, 
but one of the regular circuits or circles of life ? the same order in 
existence in the whole moving creation, in all things that come and 
go again. The spiritual world is the hidden mystery of life ; but the 
evidence is plain before our eyes, on which I will make a few 
remarks and pass on to the connection of the spiritual world, with 
this lower system (so called), The person cannot see what the 
mind conceives; neither can this world or the eye of this world by 
the light of it, the sun, see a spiritual existence ; yet we can see by 
unnumbered evidences that life remains, comes into the infant and 
passes out of the deceased ; we may not only conjecture, but prove, 
that all in existence is the evidence of a spiritual world ; and that 
life in ourselves hath an unconquered direction. The physician can 
not turn, neither can the artist delay its progress. In life we see the 
indisputable evidences of a Deity, and that the spiritual world hath 
power over this. We cannot keep off calamities by out prayer, nor 
disease and death from the habitation ; life goeth without our direction, 
and cometh without our command, performs his own revolutions in the 
heavens, summer and winter seasons on earth — and in various climes 
shews various circuits and progressions, and without life existence 






LIFE IS ONE UNITED AND SPIRITUAL BODY. 221 

is not. Oar most needful dwelling is, the atmosphere of contentment— 
this is hoped for in another world, reveuled to us by a spiritual 
existence. 

I can believe but little or nothing in the rise or elevation of the 
mind after it leaves the body ; as justification cometh by action only ; 
and we go not long without the wages of well doing. I believe the 
mind rises to its proper height in the person, yet may be troubled at 
the parting with the body ; which hath been as two jointly connected 
to effect the purposes of God. The knowledge of a spiritual world 
is a happy mind, and I am from experience obliged (if I do justice 
to my own soul and the Christian world to' whom I am writing,) to 
acknowledge that I have seen these intervals of time in which I 
wanted nothing. 

I could remember deep sorrows <J)ut could not weep: peace and 
pleasure sat as upon the throne, and governed my whole heart ; but 
I was not to remain, it was but a taste of heavenly things, or the 
worlds to come, when all my purposes and appointments are fulfilled. 
Then I saw the worlds which were to come — every faculty of the 
mind at. perfect rest ; the whole heart enjoyed a felicity undescriba- 
ble. Experience only can convey the truth of these things : as they 
are a gift in life which we cannot give one to another. Then I saw 
life at perfect rest ; because all past appointments were fulfilled, there 
was no conviction from Saint or Saviour ; then I was united to their 
rest, and them with me. My whole heart was full of life overflowing 
as it might be with spirit, because I was happy. This I accepted as 
a Redeemer's praise ; and as for any distinction, I knew it not, for all 
my personal faculties were alive ; and my whole heart was as one ; be- 
cause I was at rest with the Deity and the fountain of life, and I knew 
of no distinction in my soul of abilities, more than you can divide 
the waters of the sea, and declare unto me which are from one con- 
tinent or the other, and this is the spirit of truth — the worlds of felicity 
and everlasting rest. The spiritual world is as closely connected 
with this world as soul and body is connected — and governs over us 
by a supernatural influence ; but tolerates man to step aside, that he 
may know error, increase his fear of a supernatural providence, or 
an overruling world. 



222 IMPRESSIONS OF THE MOfiv 



November 7th, 1834. 

The turns or changes of the mind are visible to the mind ; but the 
causes seem to be obscure from the human family. Every turn or 
change is an evidence of God's overruling providence ; but the causes 
are in himself: as far as we can trace the deeds of sin or righteous- 
ness to affect the mind, we may be satisfied with the sublime evi- 
dences of conviction or justification impressing the mind with these 
various and (to us) divided effects. But there are changes and turns 
of the mind that are beyond these, that are known to the creatures 
of God, especially his creature man, that is capable of revealing the 
observations he may make upoiPthe turns of his own mind. Moses 
has revealed unto us the causes and effects of sin, and the man of 
experience and self-knowledge ; that is, when his weakness or frailty 
to do good is revealed to his own mind, sayeth Amen to the hand- 
writing of Moses. But if the mind was restored to Eden, (which is, 
to stand in the presence of God without conviction,) which is possible 
in the body, as in the body Eden was first inherited and lost, in person 
it may be regained, and man still live. I do not believe that Eden 
consists of a certain tract of land ; but that it is known by a certain 
condition of the mind — so I believe that a man may inherit and live. 
But life will produce action, and action is the production of thought; 
and the heavenly or sublime powers impress the man within, for so 
sin and righteousness cometh to light ; they are both the production 
of the mind, but not of the inspiring word of God. I believe in 
changes, though we were at peace with a Creator, and knew no con- 
viction for sin or justification for righteousness ; and I believe with- 
out a shadow of doubt, that these changes are the continuing revela- 
tion of God ; for though it should be our happy lot to reconcile the 
mind through the humble deeds of righteousness, I do not believe that 
the purposes of the creation are fulfilled in us, neither hath this 
world or globe and things thereon fulfilled their proper purposes to 
the mind. As long as the mind changes, we increase in wisdom, 
and the power of an overruling Providence is more and more visible 
to the soul, or the man within ; whom I believe to have communion 
with the spiritual world ; that is, his own soul is sensible of over- 
shadowing power, and is ever revealing something to the thought 
that this world knoweth not : and where the spirit and principles of 
atheism and deism originated I cannot tell, as my soul is neither of 
these, therefore by experience I cannot reveal ; but give my, distant 
evidence, that they are borrowed from the brute — who despises law, 
and his own mind is unto him the law of life ; and all his changes or 
turns of the mind are effected by earthly things. 



THE CHANGES OF THE MIND. 223 

It is not so with the man of thought and serious contemplation on 
the things of God. He beholds a clear and clouded atmosphere, in 
which he has no part ; he turns his mind to the inward man, or mind, 
and finds him either weak or strong, bright in observation, or dull of 
apprehension ; and though his life may be steady, and he places 
every deed, or moves his feet with the utmost care, giving all honor 
to Divine direction, putting self-confidence far from his soul, and still 
these changes are obvious within ; he is forced to acknowledge they 
are the turns of a Redeemer and Creator's hand, wrought without 
cause in the man, when they are not the production of action. The 
coming attributes of God are unmeasured. He redeemeth us with 
the merits of his own love. I have mourned without sin, and rejoiced 
without any peculiar or present deeds of righteousness ; yet these 
changes of which I have been writing, are obvious to my own mind ; 
and as I have no known part in them, I attribute them to God's own 
will and unmerited pleasure, to bring the man within to a proper 
sense of the creation ; and it was from these turns of mind that Moses 
writes unto us of day and night, as times of the greater and lesser 
light: and so, as there are times that darkness obscures the human 
eye, the Lord casts a mantle over the soul, and overshadows the 
mind ; and when we come to a sense of this world, we will find the 
Original in ourselves, and the worlds are made to bring us to a sense 
of ourselves, and the man within. The mind inherits the spiritual 
worlds from whence this globe did proceed, or a true and indisputable 
sense thereof. The more we see of this kind or nature, the better 
we are acquainted with God our creator, and redeemer from sin. The 
mind knoweth the change and turns of his fashioning hand, and he 
that knoweth his soul to be renewed, is like unto him that saw tlie 
worlds created or come to a sense thereof. 

The worlds that are discovered with a human eye, are the visible 
parts of a deity ; his mind is in them, and by this soul or spirit that is 
in them, they move in their regular course of order, come and go, 
and some parts of them visibly die and live again. 

And as God hath given unto man a mind like his own, (which Moses 
calls his own image,) it adds to the salvation of the mind to come to 
a sene of these things, through the merits of a Redeemer's hand, 
Moses for our information has divided time into days, as though these 
visible changes were in the mind of a Deity, of which I have been 
speaking, which I believe not. But that Moses seemingly reduced 
the extent of a Deity intc the small power of our conception and 
understanding ; and as the rising and setting sun measures one day 
unto us, Moses tells us thereby, that the mind is never still, but of 
a changing and travelling capacity, and though we are up to-day, 
and God's providence will seemingly illuminate the whole mind by 
the light of his inspeaking word, yet the salvation of the soul is not 



224 



IMPRESSIONS OF THE MIKii. 



accomplished ; when one command is fulfilled ; the light of this day, 
will pass away, as the setting sun : the mind will be obscured from 
past things, but the same word will return again as the rising sun, 
till the whole purposes of the creation is fulfilled in the mind ; which 
Moses hath called the Sabbath of God's rest, when man is wholly 
justified for all the deeds that he hath done. But I believe not that 
the whole will of God is then wrought in the mind, or will of man ; 
for after Moses saw this and wrote the book of creation, he had many 
things to write and do afterward, and this history of the creation, 
were but as lines of his experience, and knowledge of God. We 
must descend into the nature of things to be more fully accomplished. 
Our rest here is but for a Sabbath day, in comparison a seventh part 
of the time, and it is my belief that the souls of but few attain to this 
measure in our age of life. 



November 13th, 1834. 

Let the earth arise from deep waters, let the sea and dry land 
appear. Now shall I see by the light of the sun ; not this visible 
light which is shining in the heavens that lighteth the human eye, 
but the spirit of that sun that lighteth the soul within. 

The more we see of the deeds of Providence, the more we breathe 
out glory and holiness to his name ; his deeds inspire our praise, and 
his works are as lines drawn upon the human mind. It pleased God 
that there should be sea and dry land. It also hath pleased him that 
there should be body and soul, a man spiritual within the man tern* 
poral, or mortal, or changing clay. We observe by Moses that the 
waters were the element of God's creation ; and from thence the sun 
arose, and dry land appears, and the Lord set them apart, each of 
them for their appointed purpose, and neither of them are without 
the Lord. 

When Moses has done all and all by his hand-writing of the crea- 
tion, he has only described the man and Creator by the creation 
coming out of darkness, as the mind of the man cometh to a know- 
ledge of his own formation and acting capacity ; for we by nature 
see but little use in our birth or death, till we are endowed with a 
sense of these things, or why we are born to suffer and die, and go 
hence, not knowing the purposes of our birth or creation. The 
worlds are made for us to know, and all we see is the perfect figure 
or shadow of the man. We know there is something bringing deeds 
to light in ourselves, as we experience the benefits of age, and 
advance towards the kingdom of heaven, from whence all good at 



THE CHANGES OF THE MIND. 225 

first arose. All things below are but a shadow of worlds to come. 
That which is to us to come, is that which ever was. There is spirit 
and mind in the kingdom of God. The mind is the atmosphere of 
all God's holy 'and angelic spirits, saint and Saviour ; if we ever know 
them, we know them there. It pleased the Lord to reveal to the 
mind of Moses, the deeds of creation ; he made use of the waters to 
prefigure the mind to Moses; the sun, as the rising of a Saviour 
in the soul ; the body as dry land. And here God distinguishes 
to Moses, the distinguishing purposes of the sea and dry land. The 
body is useful in the hand of God, as well as the mind, and God set 
their purposes apart, that one might not have all the honor, but that 
soul and body should both worship and adore the Lord : he set bounds 
to the sea as we see at this day, and both are for a glorious purpose, 
both to God and man, for the sea is a communication that bringeth 
distant friends by a speedy means near together. All the springs 
and streams worship the sea, because they are the greater fountain 
of living waters. So all our mind and abilities worship the mind of 
a Deity, the element of our creation. Who can keep the living 
stream from the sea ? neither king nor councils. Who can keep my 
soul from God? None. She is in her appointed course. She is 
the offspring of spirit, and cannot be contented with earth, nor all 
that are thereon. She will return to her father's arms from whence 
she came, — the Creator of the world. So with the least stream of 
the living fountain, so with the most distant soul or spirit that God 
has given, they will unite with crowns at last. And as there are no 
superior waters in the sea, all things are alike in the kingdom of 
God, from whence at first all things arose. The earth is as useful 
to bring us to a sense of the benefit of the person to the soul as the 
land is to discover unto us the marvellous work of God in setting the 
land apart from the sea. In the sea and dry land we see life, and 
the deeds of a Creator's hand. Give glory all that see ! and those 
that see not, wait for his coming. Where we see life, God is there ; 
but Oh, unmeasured purposes ! who shall presume to write after 
Moses, the wisest scribe in these things in all the earth? I presume 
not to follow after nor run before, but give my sense as a distinct 
being from many others of the purposes of the creation, and the 
knowledge of God. The more I can prove by Moses, the stronger 
is the building ; the more I add together, the greater is the pile. If 
Moses is not to be understood, in vain are his writings to them that 
see not. I speak as I understand, and add as I discover ; for the 
God of Moses is my God, and the God of the whole world. He 
hath not limited himself by what he hath revealed to Moses nor the 
Jews, but continues to add by every discovery of his insearching 
and divine light. 

The earth produces after its own kind, and so doth the sea ; but 
p 



226 IMPRESSIONS OF THE MIND. 

all have their original in one, and none of our upright deeds of life 
should be despised, for the nature and spirit of a Deity is in them 
all : and there are no productions of body or soul in which the 
divine nature is not, save this untolerated liberty we take upon 
ourselves to act without the laws of life, and in these we unlawfully 
use the creatures of God to fulfil our own appointments. The sea 
and dry land hath appeared unto us, to worship, glorify, and adore 
the Creator. Ever} 7 deed after its own kind, from one original. So 
hath God revealed himself to Moses, and Moses to himself, by the 
varied and unnumbered productions of the soul, as the deeds of the 
human body arising from the soul or mind, the man within. We 
make the best use of a weapon when we receive it according to its 
use and appointed benefit ; the sword by the hilt, and every subject, 
object or action, according to its varied and appointed purpose. 

Every plant in the earth is the production of the dry land, bringing 
forth after its own kind or nature. From whence came all nature ? 
It is the proceeds of one living source, called the Deity ; and every 
thing in which there is life, breath or being, honours the Lord for 
giving capacity or ability to live, act, or grow upon the dry land. 
We view them in the light of the sun ; but when spirit leaves the 
body, there is light in the eye no more : and it was by the spirit of 
the sun that Moses saw the sun, and by the spirit of God he beheld 
the whole world, the use and benefit of creation. 



November 14th, 1834. 

Lord, thou art my dwelling through ages that are to come. Thou 
hast been with me since the pillars of the earth were laid. My spirit 
is from everlasting to everlasting. Thou art my God. Thou hast 
done, and it moveth not away ; thou spake in the beginning, and thy 
word changeth not. Thou art in the midst of thy dwelling. Thou 
art clothed with righteousness. Thy deeds praise thee with a pleas- 
ant song. Thy works sing aloud. The voice of the shepherd 
rejoiceth in thy flock. The dove and the lion unite to give thee 
praise. My heart, reveal thy Maker and thy Redeemer's hand. 

The fields were naked, and the Lord clothed them with pasture for 
his own. He drew a line round about them. He forbid the destroyer 
to hurt the plant of the field. The walls arose at his command ; they 
were hedged in, and no sin came through his gates. The little hills 
burst into singing. The spring burst from the mountain side ; the 
flocks were watered, and thirsted not for springs abroad. The flower 
rose amidst the tender grass ; the field was of a pleasant smell — the 



GOD IS LIFE. 227 

ancient fold of Israel. The dove sat on the bough, the lion fed on 
the tender grass ; his disposition to destroy was not found in all the 
land ! The Lord bore away his mantles from the sun. He was 
clothed in thick darkness. A mantle of mourning enclosed his illus- 
trious rays, that he shone not on the earth ; but the Lord said Arise. 
The waters gave way, and the inhabiters of the field were known 
unto the Lord. He set bounds to the wave ; he commanded the 
floods to he still, and the marvellous deep obeyed his word. He 
placed the planets in their course, and the constellations of heaven 
were still at his command. He hid man to rise as from a deep sleep, 
and behold the glory of his hand. My soul awoke at the sound of 
a trumpet : I beheld and sought the Lord that shewed unto me these 
things. I found him in the midst of them. The Lord is in the midst 
of his sanctuary, and his deeds clothe him as a garment, and every 
life doth give him praise. He giveth unto man power and dominion 
over the field of his inheritance, and the little flocks come and go at 
his command. His mind sitteth on the mountain. He beholds the 
vallies and the flower of the field, the rivers descending to the foun- 
tain of waters. He descendeth from the top of the hills ; he clothes 
his soul with the deeds of creation as with a garment ; he followeth 
after the courses of Jordan, till he cometh to the city of God; he 
casts off his garment at the feet of his Redeemer, and beholds that 
he is spirit before the Lord, prepared to inherit the temple of the 
creation, the city of God, the mind of the Deity, the element of all 
his works. The whole creation sings with him in spirit the sacred 
anthem of endless joys. We all see with our eyes as through a 
glass from hill to hill, from sea to sea. The Lord is still to come. 
He will multiply wisdom. Hope is our sister and wisdom our kins- 
woman. She will multiply in the earth. The Lord is her bride- 
groom. The creation originated in her breast. She will conceive 
of him that liveth forever. She will come forth again. Israel shall 
behold her glory and live. Here ends my song, this solemn morning 
of my days. 



November 19th, 1834. 

God is life : we are the proceeds of life. Life is spirit to all 
extent we can behold with the human eye ; there is no changing 
existence that cometh and goeth again in which there is not life and 
spirit, from the greatest to the least in the whole animal or vegeta- 
ting part of creation. There is no life in course or order but is under 
a spiritual direction ; and that which we see is the lesser part, or 
parts of creation. One spirit hath placed direction in all things to 
P 2 



228 IMPRESSIONS OF THE MIND. 

go and come and fulfil the appointed circles of life. The atmo- 
sphere, the earth and sea, is full of life and order. Nothing moves 
but by supreme command. The heavens obey ; the earth and waters 
bring forth to their Creator's name. The mind is the sense of all 
things observable. The Deity has taken up his rest in the human 
mind. All nature doth adore and worship there, or Moses could not 
have told us of a Sabbath's rest. The superior parts of a Deity 
rest in this temple or spirit called the mind ; and this is the house 
of the Lord. And thus, having a communion with his own soul and 
the visible parts of the Deity, he wrote his history of the world. If 
the unbeliever should critically dispute by saying, I was not present, 
I will refer him to a decision by saying that the same God that hath 
been with Moses is with us, and hath been with all the rest of the 
world from that day to this, in a greater or less degree. The very 
heathen imitate his name by idolatry ; but returning to the human 
family, they have been the instruments of his revelation in all ages 
of the world. When w T e see the vegetating plant, the growing tree, 
the increasing and decreasing brute, the turns of the seasons of the 
creation, the activity of nature in all living, save man, we have seen 
the end of what these can reveal of the deeds and formation of a 
Creator's hand, the activity of spirit in them, which is given according 
to their needs ; but when we come to the mind of the human family 
and the revelation of God to the world, who hath read through the 
book of life and can say we have come to the end of wisdom ? Not 
the Pope, nor his superiors. When the wise men can tell me the 
drops of water there are in the sea, and the depths of the atlantic, 
then will I believe these things, or that the end has come or revela- 
tion ceased. 

I believe that will be that never has been, and yet it is not new 
under the sun, for God ever was, and nothing can be new with him. 
He has a beginning and end with man. To us he is an unchange- 
able being, increasing in mercy, revealing to us that which we have 
not known. He that knoweth himself knoweth the spirit of this 
world ; for all is there, in the temple of the Lord, the mind of the 
man. I am not about to say that our mind is our God, for there are 
impressions on the mind as Moses reveals by saying, " He moved on 
the waters," and the Son of God hath said, if the mind cometh forth 
or is born of the spirit we hear the sound, the voice of God, in the 
inner courts of the Lord, the temple or mind, but from whence it 
cometh or whither it goeth we cannot tell. God never will make 
liars of his saints or prophets, much less his Son Jesus Christ. We 
are the lesser means, we cannot weigh or measure the Deity ; if so, 
revelation would come to an end. The mind is the medium between 
God and our acting abilities, which is called the man, the connection 
of this earthly frame. It is the mind that feels and knows our sins, 



GOD IS LIFE. 2 k 29 

and maketh the actual atonement that God requires for our acting 
transgressions ; but the mind doth not perform this alone, more than 
the son could act without the father. It is a well impressed mind 
that regulates our sinful and transgressing deeds of life. The soul 
is the bride, the word of God the bridegroom of the soul, and our 
person holds out to public view the revelation of God. It was by 
the spirit of the world that Moses saw the world ; for the spirit is the 
inside light of all being, and from thence proceedeth the activity of 
the creatures of God : and man is endowed with these noble abilities, 
i. e. to worship God for all. And to perform true and accepted wor- 
ship we must come to the outside knowledge of the deeds of a Deity, 
as well as these things that are revealed within ; and he that doth 
not come to the visible sense of the works of God, as seen by the 
human eye, is resting short of the sense of that which God hath 
openly revealed to the human eye. I write a little that if possible 
I might assist my brethren and friends to see these things as they 
are that God hath placed before our eyes, that the end may be to 
increase the homage of the Almighty, and increase his praise as it 
might be from fresh springs of living water arising in a thirsty land : 
that is, a few sparks of revelation that may not be common with the 
whole world, or the inexperienced or untravelling human family that 
seemeth to measurably content themselves with the fleeting dust of 
this lower world. I have no doubt that all things were made for us, 
and we were to have dominion over them : that is to say, be wiser 
than them, command them in ourselves by superior impressions of 
the mind, or the direction of a Creator, Saviour, or Redeemer's hand, 
(whom to me are all the same ;) there is but one original of all good. 
Man is not made to bow to any thing in the creation. Here Moses 
reveals the will of God in the first command. In obedience to such 
command the soul begins to ascend, and so on till we stand in the 
presence of God, as Moses did when it is said he saw him face to 
face. There are contradictory Scriptures to these, that sayeth no 
man hath seen the face of a Creator. I accept that Moses stood in 
his presence and saw the visible glory of God, these things that are 
manifestly revealed by the deeds of creation ; but that God hath 
revealed his face or shewn his whole glory to man, I believe it not : 
for the whole mind of man could not receive the extent of the Deity, 
— moreover he is more glorious than we can behold. If not so, there 
is nothing to come that hath not been revealed, and we have seen 
the end of a Deity, and wisdom is accomplished ; this is not the true 
faith. The Lord liveth, and is forever and ever to all generations 
of the world new to every creature, discovering unto him these things 
he has not known. 

The purposes of the creation are glorious ; they enlarge the mind 
as they improve the soil, and bring in a welcome income to our 
P 3 



230 IMPRESSIONS OF THE MIND. 

desire. Let us read a little in the book of nature, for in it are written 
the laws of life. Our first prospect is with the human e\e ; we 
behold much in visibility. We see life in action in earth, air, and 
sea. We see the deeds but not the mind ; it is spirit, it is secreted 
within this veil of flesh as a mantle. Life is hidden in the tree, the 
grass of the field, the flower of the garden. We see the visible part, 
but there is another that expands the bud into the leaf and flower, 
groweth and is multiplied by it. It fulfils the appointment in all 
being, and returns from whence it came, but whither we know not. 
We cannot follow by the light of the human eye to the fountain of life. 
Our own limbs move by a power unseen ; they are commanded by a 
measure unknown to ourselves. I am ready to cry out, Oh ignorant 
men that we are ! can we not advance? can we not see the purposes 
of a Creator's hand ? There is a school prepared for us. Moses 
not only saw what had been from the beginning, but saw what v>ould 
be in the end. God would come in the flesh, and him we should 
hear in all things. Here ends the law of Moses, It brings us to 
this school ; and the evangelist John tells us by this word that teaches 
the mind, whose house is the inner temple and courts of the Lord, 
the world was made, and all that are therein. Now I presume the 
visible God is within the voice like the coming and going wind. 
The mind that is like the table for the law of the Lord, can receive 
the purposes of the creation. The outside of a Deity — that is, all 
we see, is but as the mantle of the Lord — excites me to know what 
is within the veil, and the creation attracts my mind, not to sin, but 
to fear a Deity of such power. I see the plrnets in their course, 
obeying direction; the rising and setting sun, the regular changes 
of the moon, the morning and the evening star, the rushing storm 
moving on deep waters, the calm, the evening and the day, the 
activity of the fowl and brute, till I behold my own limbs moving 
from a power within, my tongue revealing the secrets of my soul, my 
pen now running by the virtue of something unmeasured t in my mind. 
My all gives up : I acknowledge there is an unknown Deity in all 
life, and I am frail to know mine own existence. I will go to that 
school, as a child to the master that knoweth all things, he that 
dwelleth in that unknown mansion called the mind ; and I will 
worship before him, and say, Good master, teach me these things 
that I need, that my mind may enter into glory with thee, and inherit 
eternal life. Will he not show unto me the spirit of all things in mind, 
of which he builds his house in the spiritual worlds, and is a spiritual 
world? He has said, " he will teach the meek and humble of his ways," 
and I shall see his life in all living ; the more he gives the more I'll 
love, the more I see the more my limbs shall cease to offend, till I 
bear the true image of his will, as far as is to me designed. And the 
more 1 receive and know of the Deity, the more full, perfect, and 



GOD IS COMMAND. 231 

extensive shall my worship be. And the purpose of the whole 
visible creation is to direct our attention to the inner man, who is 
acquainted with the revelation, the judgments, and mercies of our 
God. Spirit only seeth unto spirit. The human eye eaa only 
discern the outside of things. It is the inner man that ltnoweth the 
Lord and is acquainted with his works. 



November 26th, 1834. 

God is command, — command is life, and precedeth action. The 
world is the offspring or the proceeds of command. We cannot call 
God that which he is not, sin and unrighteousness excepted — and 
these are performed by his abilities given us in trust, and made use 
of without command. By command the sun arose, the planets took 
their course, and the fixed stars were still. By command man came 
to the sense of his abilities ; without command, he is lawless in life. 
By command the creation appeared unto Moses, and he saw an ex- 
tensive Deity in all his works, and became the servant of the Most 
High God. The more we see by the command of God, the more 
the soul multiplies ; the more extensive the command, the more the 
soul reveals ; the more is revealed, the more we receive for doing ; 
the more we receive, the richer and more noble is that kingdom by 
the saints and son called the mind. Moses is one of the most exten- 
sive historians of the world ; he hath revealed unto us the ways of 
right and wrong, and that command is the law of life, and that God 
is command to the whole world. 

If we see the sun to rise, we see one part of his existence ; for by 
this we see the outside of things, the garment of a Deity, but know 
not the mind. All that behold the creation should enquire after the 
mind of this world, which is the Deity, not the mind of sinners ; for 
it is a kingdom dark as the tomb of the dead, in which a man cannot 
see right or wrong. There is no law from the Maker's hand written 
there that we can see with our human eyes. Nevertheless it is to us 
the space of the creation, and where God begins his known works, 
reveals his abilities and calls the sun to rise. But the mind of a Deity 
is what we should seek for in our lost condition of mind, that is when 
our spirit is not at rest, neither do we know where to find it. When 
God commands the sun to rise in the inside kingdom, so described to 
us by the saints and the Son of God, we have a light which showeth 
unto us the whole mind or heart of the hnman family ; and this is 
where Moses saw the sun to rise which directed him to the sun in 
the skies to reveal to the world the spirit of God. What can be more 



232 IMPRESSIONS OF THE MOD. 

correct? By the light of the sun we behold the creation; by the 
light of the mind we see the spiritual world, from whence this world 
arose, or was at first revealed -to man. It is the inner courts of the 
Lord that saiisfieth the mind ; for there all our abilities are at home, 
and seek no more, but enjoy the prize they sought. I believe Moses 
sought for wisdom before the creation was revealed to him. The 
Son hath said by seeking we find, or seek and ye shall find. This 
is one infallible command from the foundation of the world. But 
who could seek to find till he was lost, or found himself in need of 
that which he did not possess? I confess that although a man was 
righteous according to his measure, as Adam before sin, he hath not 
a perfect sense of his own soul or mind ; for the mind of a righteous 
man may be improved. I may fulfil all the laws of the Lord this day 
that he hath revealed, or obey his most righteous command, but it 
doth not follow that I shall seek for more on the morrow, though I 
were righteous to-day. The world was revealed unto Moses a day 
at a time : a veil was cast over the first day's work, which is called 
the night ; and I have no doubt but Moses saw the first dav's work 
that it was good, and God blessed it unto him, and it satisfied part of 
his mind. But Moses was not content with seeing the work begun ; 
and as his prayer for wisdom was just, blessed and answered of God, 
he saw another : and thus God was revealing himself unto Moses by 
the creation, showing unto him the purpose of all things. And I 
believe, by reading over my own small degree of experience, that 
Moses was not content nor accomplished for action till he came to a 
sense of the mind of this world, which is the Deity, and then began 
to serve or obey the world to come ; for it will come unto us all if we 
will obey command, which is the law of life or nature's laws. Moses 
had a frame or body to act in, which is an image of God ; not because 
of form, but because it contained the sense of all things in existence, 
and the original from whence they came. 

Moses never could have described the first man to us but by him- 
self; for the very soul of Adam was in him, and in us all, and Moses 
improved it, and found the Lord to move on his mind as on deep 
waters. And Moses discovered a light in his own soul, but it did 
not continue ; there was night as well as day in him. The Lord is 
a consistent God ; he is the same within in spirit as he is without in 
deeds : and this world is a true figure of the Deity, and the spirit of 
the world to come. There is a rising and setting sun in our presence, 
a time to act in the service of God and a time to be still ; but the 
night is not without his blessing, for Moses says it is a time of the 
lesser light, the moon and stars are in it. The Deity himself, as 
revealed unto Moses, brought forth the creation to his presence by 
this supernatural light, by which he saw the sun, the infallible evi- 
dence of the ebbing and flowing of the spirit of truth in his own soul, 



<50D IS COMMAND. 233 

which led him into all things, and to give a true history of the Deity 
by the book of creation to the human family that are born into this 
world. When I advance in this little work, I would keep the eviden- 
ces of all things compact in one connection, that I may be the better 
understood, if I may be suffered to progress to the satisfaction of any. 
There are sufficient evidences that all existence hath a spirit, but 
without which we are lost from the use of them ; the spirit is the 
light of all things that are animated under heaven. It is in my mind 
to say, there is not a nature, ability, or principle of action in the animal 
life that is not connected with the human family. To know these in 
one united spiritual body, and the word of God to be the head or 
command of them, completes a spiritual world, or a satisfied mind, 
in my belief, the salvation of the mind. A man without the Lord is 
but the brute in action. He has the man's form, but the brutal prin- 
ciples ; but by them he can never work a salvation, neither is he sat- 
isfied. He is either coveting or hating, gaining or losing, strewing 
or gathering. His mind is never still. He is coming or going to 
satisfy his soul. The event of all he doeth is uncertain to him ; and 
at an untimely season, as we would have it, he is cut off from his 
works, and leaves this world unaccomplished, and enters into another, 
because the mind is life. God's own breath (saith Moses) breathed 
into man. Personal decease cannot slay a spirit : therefore the mind 
doth not die, yet it changeth by the deeds of life, and our deeds re- 
vealeth unto this world the heart of man. Moses has said that the 
Lord made man naked and then clothed him. In vain we raed if 
we do not understand. Man was not ashamed until he sinned, and 
was then disposed to hide himself from the presence of the Lord. 
The deed he did was only an evidence of his spirit. He was not 
ready to come to judgment, — he had not fulfilled command, — he hid 
himself from the Lord, revealing to us the space of repentance was 
wanting before he was ready to appear before the Judge of a spiritual 
world ; and by his deeds hath revealed himself unto us. The Lord 
clothed him, but slew him not ; Moses hath wisely said with the skins 
of beasts, a true evidence of his action, the spirit and principle he 
acted from in the mind. If this spirit had been obedient in the mind, 
(the world of spirits,) from whence should we have known sin ? 
There is nothing now that was not then, there was nothing then that 
is not now. The whole writing of Moses respecting the creation is 
the evidences of the form of the man in the inner part, and the deeds 
of Adam our personal action. Adam by his own deeds knew himself 
to be a sinner; but not without the assistance of a Judge could he 
have known this. The spiritual world (the mind within) was out of 
order. He had moved the wrong foot first, as it might be, and dark- 
ness began to cover the mind, and he began to act in vain, and make 
a wrong use of the fig leaves which was given for the clothing of the 



234 IMPRESSIONS OF THE MIND. 

tree but not the man ; but the Lord clothed him according to his ac- 
tion, for he could not bear to go naked. Therefore God gave him a 
defence, as it might be, against sun and storm, the troubles of life, 
till his repenting days shall be performed. Then shall he say in all 
of us, Here am I Lord, the workmanship of thine hand ; without thee 
I can do nothing. Thou hast made me naked before thine eyes. 
My deeds are all thy works ; they are all performed by thy command, 
and of them I am not ashamed. I delight in them. I rejoice in thy 
presence as the rising sun. Thou showest unto me I am thine own 
likeness, containing the spirit of all visibility within myself. I am a 
kingdom and thou art Lord thereof, to myself an inward and an out. 
side world; for by thy word within (the sun of the mind) I see all 
things that are in existence, and my soul containeth the spirit of them. 
I have found all and thy righteous name in the midst of them, reveal- 
ing to man that which is right and wrong. Thou ait the tree given, 
but not stolen. Thy life is command, and most freely may my soul 
partake of it. 

Of all the trees thou mayest freely partake, but right and wrong is 
the knowledge of the Lord, the Most High God. Thou must first 
observe the lesser growth of the field, partake of them, and see that 
they are good, as Moses saw the creation revealed, till thou perform- 
est the whole life of man in experience, that is, all. Thy soul shall 
be under Divine direction from the lesser to the greater, from the 
beginning to the end ; and thou shalt see that all thy acting principles 
are good, very good : and, last of all, thou shall come to the knowledge 
of that comparative tree of good and evil, and, like thy Redeemer 
and Creator God, be reconciled to a world of spirits, and his judg- 
ment shall arise to the throne in these the most high and noble prin- 
ciples of the mind, and thou shall be reconciled to the immoveable 
judgment of thy heavenly Father, and thy soul within thee, through 
tribulated experience, rest in the presence of God forever, with the 
knowledge of the tree that never dieth — the true sense of right and 
wrong. 



November 27th, 1834. 

The Lord is in his sanctuary — he is in the midst of his works — he 
will reveal himself to Israel, and be perfect in Judah. The Islands 
shall know his name, and the mountains shall bow before him. 
He will plant a vine in Israel and Judah shall gather the grape : he 
shall give to the nations that are at thirst, new wine from the grape 
in Israel. The Lord will return to his former habitation and reveal 



THE LORD IS IN HIS SANCTUARY. 235 

trimself to the world by the deeds of his hands. History has become 
as Babel's tower : historians are confounded and reveal nothing. 
The skill of the penman cannot reach the truth ; the wise and prudent 
of these ages cannot see the heart or mind of God. The Creation 
is a true history of the Most High, and Moses is our great informer 
that it is so, for from the heart of Moses came great and mighty 
works, — an evidence that his conception of divine mysteries and the 
visible worlds were true. If I see the Lord in his sanctuary or the 
midst of his deeds, any conception of him is right, and will satisfy 
my soul, and I will not stand knocking at the gates of the College or 
seminaries any more ; for this indeed is the poor man's history of 
God and the creation. 

Having scarcely education to mark down my thoughts, my senten- 
ces are few, because words are scarce with me, and language is 
limited and bounded to the narrowest space. There is none that can 
cast a mantle over the sun, or change the planets in their course, or 
bid the fixed stars to move ; none can change the features of the 
brute, or change the Ethiopian's skin. The works of God remain 
as they were, but the deeds of men hath made a confounding Baby- 
lon on earth : there is not a man of education or science that can con- 
nect them together as a way from earth to heaven : they are as the 
stumbling block of the poor uneducated world : they stand gazing on 
them, and time is spent talking of that which profits nothing. The 
Lord hath done this, he has given way to the prayers of humanity 
and suffered (not commanded) every scribe to bring art to the proof, 
and wise and prudent speculation to the public scale, and see what 
they would weigh in the public mind. The world is divided through 
these means into unnumbered parts. The tower is finished, the 
people are confounded : Israel had one way ; but we have our thou- 
sands following after our disputing shepherds, who are astray, and 
the flocks are lost. 

Oh that Moses would return, for he would go into the secret or 
silent tabernacle, his own mind, and commune with God, and reveal 
to us the truth according to our necessities. The Lord would place 
a cloud before him by day, and a burning lamp by night, and all the 
Lord's chosen people would have but one way. But now we are as 
the ship without the helm, the mariner without the compass : we are 
driven every way in the storm, and death overtaketh us before we 
reach the haven of our rest. 

The Lord will gather together into one, his hands are spread 
abroad through all his works, he shines in the sun, he will speak 
from the stars, and these eyes that behold him in all living existence, 
will overflow with tears of joy ; for the Lord hath formed all crea- 
tures to give him praise ; he has given man a heart to receive all, 
and give him glory for his works. The creation is a true history of 



236 IMPRESSIONS OF THE WIND. 

the Deity, shewing unto us all the parts he would reveal. No Evan- 
gelist or Prophet disputed with Moses about the creation ; they saw 
alike and so did the Son or Word of God by whom the world was 
made and the seas received their bounds. How profitable it is, Oh 
Lord, to see thee in thy works ! It unites the most distant ages togeth- 
er ; and will unite my soul with these that first wrote of thee. I love 
them in my spirit because they were the servants of ihe Lord — 
drawing the attention of all nations unto one God, by a revelation of 
thy will. That which is right cannot be moved : that which thou 
hast justified will stand forever ; and the hand-writing of Moses, the 
Prophets and David was found worthy of reception by thy Son Jesus : 
he bowed the knee and reverenced them. "There is nothing hid, 
but shall be revealed" (said that great Evangelical Prophet of God, 
Jesus Christ) — all that is in obscurity, shall come to light as on the 
house top ; and all the world shall see the glory of the Lord, the 
least as well as the greatest ; and there shall be speculations in the 
human family no more, nor impositions on the degenerate mind. 
The Lord loveth all his works to the ends of the world : he hath 
formed the least insect — given life and command unto them : his 
ways are in the earth, air and sea. Has he forgot the noblest of his 
deeds, his cieature man? Nay, there shall be resurrection after 
resurrection, the dead shall live till all is fulfilled, i. e. the appoint- 
ments and ordinations of the most high God. When human invention 
tires, then will the inhabiters of the earth seek for rest ; but all must 
be fulfilled that the heart of man can devise, for without this man 
would not know his own mind ; therefore the Lord has begun by 
permission unto Adam, and yet continues and will to the full extent 
of the mind ; and although I do not know that I am the worst of 
sinners, or the farthest from the Lord ; but being of a small and 
contracted mind, soon came to the bounds thereof, and saw without 
the Lord that all my works were like Babel's tower; built up to 
prove the fallacy of invention, and to bring human skill down to the 
earth. Here I am but dust as I begun, and if any of the babel 
builders can ascend to be what I am not, I will confess I come down 
too soon. But if the end of human invention should amount to no 
more than it has in me, it is no matter how soon it comes to pass ; 
we shall scarcely arise to heaven, till we see what is on earth, or 
enter into the courts of the Lord. I have no desire to ascend again, 
but try to see what is in this little garden, the globe that is round 
about me : Adam my father was placed in it, and suffered to partake 
of the fruit, part at a time, and the whole world was given him to 
enjoy. But he was not commanded to come to the knowledge of 
God first, but partake of the lesser matters or fruit by God's permis- 
sion, and not to ascend so fast by invention, lest he should fall and 
kill himself. But he, in haste to come to the knowledge of God — 



WHO CAK KNOW THE MAN? 237 

the then forbidden tree (of which the crucified son of God partook 
thereafter) lost his first estate, a loss that is hard to gain. But Moses 
came to a mental sense of all the trees, and his mind will live for- 
ever ; because he had knowledge of the tree of life; the tree of 
knowledge and all others. He tells of a fiery sword that cannot be 
conquered— it is the sword of God's indignation against human 
invention, and these which have not passed through the fiery trial, 
their deeds will not live ; and a great deal of history will prove like 
Adam's fig leaves, good for nothing, and will be no covering for the 
man. 



November 29th, 1834. 

Who can know the man? There are many judges, but who hath 
measured the mind with a reed to know the heighth and depth 
thereof, the length and breadth of it ? There is none knoweth man 
but his maker, and the giver of the mind, the same hath prohibited 
judgment from the human family ; because the eye cannot behold the 
brother's heart ; but as far as is revealed to us we can discover, and 
every man hath limited bounds to his mind. It is the space, or place 
of our rest, our hell of miseries and woes : space of darkness or 
marvelous light. It is the house of our acquaintance with God — it 
is the habitation of despair, when he is absent not comforting the 
mind. The beam must be removed from our eye, before we can 
assist another — converted, before we strengthen our friends. The 
extent of the mind is not bounded by conceiving a sense of this 
world, and its purposes : it still thirsteth after rest, or heavenly 
things. We are then certain that temporal and spiritual things have 
space and place in the mind, and one word or command is given to 
govern over them. The mind will justly compare to the beam and 
the balance ; if we go to any extreme in any of these points, we will 
soon prove to a beholding world the mind is out of order. God 
created the earth and the heavens, temporal and spiritual things ; it 
is only a just Judge that can make proper use of them, and own, 
that by the hand-writing of Moses, that our father received the world 
from the hand of God, and ail things therein were placed before 
him; and whatsoever he called the name of any thing that it was. 
The eye of Moses was clear; (there can be no doubt of it,) he 
received the lost state of man before he saw things as they were, 
and wrote of them : he pointed to creation, and his hand-writing 
saith (a universal sense of the word) behold the worlds, and man the 
true witness of God ! When we behold with the human eye, we 



238 IMPRESSIONS OF THE MIND. 

have seen the shadow, and this infallible witness of God invites tils' 
soul to come forward and know the substance of these things. As 
far as my mind discovers, I can reveal ; but farther is dark as the 
tomb to me : the light of heaven hath not shone upon it. How can 
I speak or reveal the hidden things of God ? The mind will conceive 
all the eye glances over — all the ear can hear — all that life can feel 
- — the tongue taste, or the breath smell, and it is not yet. full : it will 
conceive an endless law from heaven ; which is the life of God in 
the soul, or otherwise, his living and existing word in the mind. By 
this, we spell all things, great and small : connect heaven and earth 
together : that is, to labor on earth by the word of God, and receive 
our joys in heaven. 

The earth is a blessing to the mind, and it was blessed to the mind 
of our father in the day of blessings; in that day, man was wholly 
blessed : and all things that were made. Heaven and earth was 
clothed with a blessing ; and man was made of clay, or born into 
the world. If I conceive, I may speak again — clay is a passive 
substance ; so was man when he was made, and he never arises 
from his first estate by human devices or invention. But all his 
independent deeds of a Deity, reduces the man. Every human act 
darkens the mind, till be becometh quite lost from a sense of himself; 
and many minds in this estate, are clothed with blind imagination, 
so far as to conclude they are something in their own eyes, when 
it remains evident to a discerning mind, they are nothing in the sight 
of God, nor ever can be, till his fashioning hand shall or may rebuild 
them anew, and reveal to man by his sublime deeds that he is 
nothing of himself. Now, I believe with Moses, that his mind was 
reduced by tribulation, and events to the estate or condition of passive 
clay in the builder's hand : and the mercy of God built him up for 
the sake of Israel ; and he tells us, that man was first made of clay, 
for so his dead mind came to life ; and when God had done, Moses 
saw himself, the man ; and thus he knew the first and last estate of 
Adam, in every soul ; for had not his mind ran through the records 
before his pen, he could not reveal these things unto us. My great 
and immoveable proof, is the experience of my own mind. Who 
ever fell from grace, but by the form that Moses hath given unto 
Adam's fall? Who have been restored, but by rising as they fell? 
Who could see the first estate of man, but by the restoration to Eden 
again? And I presume that Moses is not half known to the world. 

We read, but earthly things hath such an overbalance in the mind 
that our thirst seemeth satisfied about heavenly things by hearing tell 
'of them. But it is written the world shall have an end. When earth 
begins to fail, we call on heaven and heavenly things. The soul is 
not satisfied ; a thirst arises (when we look into death, hell and the 
grave) for a place in heaven, or rather a rest for the mind. This is a 



WHO CAN KNOW THE MAN ? 239 

quickening event that happeneth to all men sooner or later in life* 
Moses was anxious to see his way clear, and began to make peace 
with God by a passive obedience, or sole resignation to his will ; and 
of his passive mind God made of him the man. I have never read 
that he had a soul within him coveting wealth, that he was fond of 
office, or clothed himself with pride. He excused himself from the 
calls of God, because of inability ; but not that he had other things 
to do, but that he was weak to perforin. God blessed his weakness 
or stammering and slow tongue with assistance ; but his tongue did 
not forbid nor hinder him to write, or become as God unto Aaron, 
teaching him all things that he should do. Now we observe that 
Moses was fully the man, and the schoolmaster of his brethren ; and 
God made use of Moses as a son of light to reveal himself to the 
world. There was not a Son of God born after, (by what is called 
the second birth,) which is nothing more than God improving the 
mind, when humanity has come to their wit's end — but saw as Moses 
saw, the priest, the prophet, saint and king ; and hereby I see in all 
ages that God by revelation hath been the same to the world. Christ 
nor the evangelist doth not diminish from the hand-writing of Moses 
concerning the creation and God, but addeth thereunto, and increas- 
eth mercy and the forgiveness of sins in the world. If I write things 
inconsistent with revealed truths, I am not of God ; for God is con- 
sistent with himself in all ages of the world. Every man that is res- 
tored by the hand of God to a sense of himself, the builder and re- 
builder's hand, seeth as Moses saw, and as children of one father 
agreeth about the revelation of God. Now, Oh divided world, when 
will you see these things? When will the scribe cease to run his 
speculative pen, with the beam in his eye, still rending the human 
family farther apart, as bone from bone and joint from joint ? Oh 
that the gathering hand of God would gather together, that his com- 
ing mercy may save that which is lost ! When a man cometh to a 
sense of himself, then hath he seen the works of God ; but until then, 
His numerous volumns and religious speculations will only be as the 
dry leaf on the tree, profitable to no man ; for our latter productions 
divideth the world more and more, and produceth quite a contrary 
effect from gathering together the inhabiters of this woild into one 
happy kingdom of reconciliation one with another, which reconciles 
a man with God. That is not to say that a reconciliation with sin is 
well pleasing in the eyes of a Deity, but that the forgiving of sin is 
his pleasure, and prepares the soul for rest ; for by so doing all re- 
venge and malice is cast out of it. We are only to mourn for these 
we cannot save. Now, if the Son of God had come, not partaking 
of the earth, we might say the fruit of the field is vain for the salva- 
tion of the mind ; but Moses saw heaven and earth both to be a bless- 
ing, for that which God hath blessed is a blessing to us : we cannot 



240 IMPRESSIONS OF THE MIN», 

receive from the flocks without the shepherd, neither can we gather 
in the harvest from the earth without cultivation. 

Man was created to till the ground and keep God's command. 
Doth this amount to two occupations for one man ? It positively doth 
not ; for a man may till the field by God's command, and eat of it, 
and see that it is a blessing to his mind to eat honest bread, as ever 
it was to gather of the trees, of which the Lord said our father and 
mother might partake. There are two parts in the man, and the one 
is a blessing to the other ; for without the body the soul is not revealed, 
neither is God known to the world. Is not then the body a blessing 
to the soul and an honour to God, created whereby he may be reveal- 
ed one unto another? Revelation doth not cease here, when we 
know what another could reveal. Though this might fill a space of 
the mind to-day, it may be enlarged to-morrow ; for wisdom hath no 
end. Though to-day I am blind for the morrow, to-morrow will 
answer for itself; so Moses continues his progress, till he saw the 
man wholly blessed, as God had created him in every particle, joint 
and feature. 

Now, who can dispute but Moses saw the whole restoration of the 
world, the life of Christ, the seed born of the woman, the contending 
controversy between good and ill, the wicked cast out, the idle pro- 
hibited from the living tree, the cherubs and defence? All these 
things he knew in his own soul ; they are what the mind can receive 
and more so : and where is that well-instructed scribe that can set 
bounds to the mind of the man? It conceiveth good and ill, heaven 
and hell, death and life, of going from and returning into the favour 
and mercy of God. To receive God, reconciled with his deeds, and 
all and every work of his hand blessed ; he that can measure farther 
may say there is an end to wisdom, and that he hath set bounds and 
limited the living God, that he shall never more increase the mind of 
man, or cease to reveal his mercies to the world. 



[241 ] 



December 6th, 1834. 

THE SON OF GOD IS SENT TO THE LOST SHEEP OF THE HOUSE 
OF ISRAEL, AND UNTO THEM HE SENDETH HIS OWN. 

I have written in my foregoing pages to the wise and prudent of 
the age, and hereby dedicate the same unto them for their observa- 
tions and remarks on the deeds of a poor lonesome and illiterate mind 
of the wilderness of Upper Canada. I now address children of the 
lesser stations in religious society, from the same mind, that (if it 
may be so,) I may be some small advantage to all. 

I am myself one of the wandering kind from society, for the 
Judges found me unworthy of communion, and like my father out of 
Paradise — I was put away — the gates were closed against me, fast 
and strong. I could enter in no more, they were placed as the 
burning cherubs there. I went from door to door, many hundred 
miles for communion with my friends the Quakers, but could gain no 
admittance ; as spoke one, so said they all : they were fearful I would 
divide the society, by public communication ; for I had uttered a few 
broken and ill-connected sentences with them ; but the Judge sternly 
replied, it was wrong — be still, or depart was the sentence to my soul. 
As man was not born to be a servant of men, I took my chance in 
the open world, having hope in God alone for my stay. I soon 
found a spring of living water, and fresh pastures to my soul. I now 
enjoy a little field in the wilderness with a few brethren of the lost 
number like myself: here we have been since the year 1811, build- 
ing houses to the Lord — introducing ancient praise into the assem- 
blies of his people. Our little field enlarges (as David hath said of 
the abounding mercies of his God-) — our springs fail not, neither do 
our pastures pass away, and from my lonesome tent I set out this 
morning to reveal the Son of God to the world. It will be observed 
that I have first written of Moses in this little work, which I am about 
to communicate to the world, but more particularly North America, 
or the United Stales, the land of my nativity — the place of my birth. 
It is requisite to know Moses before Christ. Christ hath said, if ye 
had known Moses ye would have known me : but the wise and 
prudent of his day, did not know either of them. I think I have 
some sense of the mind of Moses and it is a regular course of order 
to proceed forward to the heart of God, which is hidden in Christ his 
Son : he has revealed his father, by parables unto us, but without a 
parable hath he not revealed himself to the prudent and the wise. 
His own saw him face to face as Moses saw the Lord. 



242 IMPRESSIONS OF THE MIND. 

The person of Jesus is an evidence of the truth — his deeds are 
signs or true representations of the Holy Ghost : he was a Prophet 
in which there was no guile — blameless before the Lord ; his body- 
was a tabernacle of the highest, but who hath seen his mind ? It 
never was revealed to the world, but under a veil or shadow, it was 
secreted in his holy body, for the Lord hath not appeared unto us 
without flesh, as unto our father in Eden, or as he hath done unto 
Moses face to face ; and except the days come that never has been, 
we shall not be saved from our sins. 

The Lord hath given me a soul like all other beings ; and in my 
straits and deep distress I gave it back as an offering to the Lord, 
for I proved the world of a certainty, and found I could do nothing 
for myself, and what is done the mighty God of Jacob has done, for 
there is no merit in the man : he led me to the spring of living waters, 
he caused or commanded the fresh pastures to spring up in my mind 
— and there our little flocks are feeding till this day. What I have 
communicated in the fore part of this work, is a true copy of the 
mind. And what I now write unto you, to whom these may come, is 
my bread from heaven : it hath proved salvation to my mind, and 
these about me : seek in this world no more : we were off-casts, and 
the Lord hath shewn unto us marvelous 'mercies, and hath given us 
a house and flocks of our own — they go in and out, and find comfort 
to their souls. 

A few lines of history cannot communicate all things — come and 
see — come into the same way that we are and you will find comfort 
to your souls, and the pastures of life, and the living spring that 
faileth not. We have no communication with the righteous, all our 
religious barter or communication is with sinners, they will both hear 
and see, and sometimes receive a little ; but the eyes of the righte- 
ous of this age are closed up — the shepherds retain the sheep from 
our flocks, as though we were wolves : we borrow not, touch, 
taste, nor handle not, an} T goods or barter that belongeth unto them. 
But if dissatisfied minds run away from them, and come unto us, 
we receive them as David did, and we can assure you, they are not 
weak men in our little Israel. They are kind to the poor, and 
merciful and forgiving to the sins of the whole world. Is not this a 
mark of the lamb of God, that through his unbounded mercy taketh 
our sins away ? We must first believe, and then practice, and our 
rewards are the salvation of the man. Our imperfections are great ; 
but our mercies continue, and we are endowed with a living hope in 
God our Saviour, and this is one great comfort to the soul. The lost 
sheep is the field of the Lord, although it is the wilderness of the 
man, for there he finds and grants love to his people. If he is sent 
to the lost sheep of the house of Israel, it is these that are scattered 
from the flocks or society, whose gates are no way for them to the 



THE SON OF GOD IS SENT TO THE LOST, ETC. 343 

pastures of life, or springs of living water. The whole need no 
physician ; we therefore leave the assemblies alone, and rather seek 
after that which is lost, and as we are of this number, and mercy 
came unto us, while we were seeking, for we did find, we think we 
know of being lost and found again, of being dead to society and are 
again alive : for we are now equal to our friends or more so, in our 
own country where it is said a Prophet is without honour : this is an 
uncommon day ; but living witnesses can vouch for the truth of these 
things. The shadow pursued to its origin, leadeth us to the substance ; 
so the person of the Son invites us to come to God, the original of 
all good, and the father of that which came by Moses into the world. 
Those that know not Moses, know not God, for Moses was of God, 
a true servant sent into the world, to redeem Israel from bonds. 
Sectarians are lean in mercy, but cruel in judgment. They evidence 
for the phurisee, hypocrite and the hard hearted priest: they can 
crucify the mind, but seldom raise the dead to life — but clothe them 
with a garment like their own. I do not number all in society with 
sectarians — there are humble minds, beloved of God, and are friends 
to their brethren : but some of their shepherds are of this class I 
have been speaking of — my very soul or spirit within, hath proved 
them to be so. They add to the hard hearted number but gather 
few to the fold of Christ. I have suffered much in mind, but speak 
sparingly — experience hath taught me what to say. He that hath 
been the criminal, is a true evidence of the sentence of the Judge, 
whether it was merciful or just. The tree is known by the proceeds, 
and so is the Son of God — observe he was the signer's friend ; but 
the exalted man's foe. He was right and changeth not : his personal 
deeds are a true evidence of his Father's will, which is in heaven. 
He seeketh the lost, and he findeth them seeking, and is found of 
them : the lost are never content till they find a union of spirit, and 
there they are at rest, for the prince of peace is in the midst of them 
as on the throne of David ordering all things in the house of the 
Lord. If he is sent to the lost sheep, who will not be found? He is 
not a blind shepherd, he knoweth where to find, and how to give 
them rest ; he maketh us his children — we become his sheep — he is 
the one true shepherd of all nations, kindred, tongues, and people; 
the everlasting father of the world. When we find this shepherd, 
we seek no more, he hath the words of eternal life — the living 
spring — the bread that cometh down from heaven, and satisfieth the 
mind. We as a people do not speak boastingly of these things, but 
as far as we have found, so far we can give, and bear a true witness 
of the mercies of the Lord. He hath made us liberal to build the 
house of his father, to feed and clothe the widow and the fatherless — 
to humbly submit and sit down and eat in peace with the ends of the 
world : he has made us, (as it might be) a friend to publicans and 
a 2 



244 IMPRESSIONS OF THE MIND. 

sinners ; but no physician to these that are whole : we pass by their 
gates in silence, knowing they must become as the lost sheep of the 
house of Israel, before the Lord will come unto them, or send one of 
his angels or servants to their door, for it is his choice, to send his 
servants to the lost. Nevertheless, he treats them with a word of 
conviction ; which is unto them, as taking away these unsquared 
and unpolished stones of exaltation from under their feet, by which 
means they will one day fall to the eanh ; for neither the axe nor 
hammer is ever still in Israel. The people do not please the elders 
of the house. 

If there is no greater salvation to be hoped for, than is now in the 
christian church, it matters not how soon we die ; for things grow 
nothing the better, but rather the worse ; divisions increase, govern- 
ment rends in twain, and wise men are put to their wits end to know 
how to keep the nations in peace, and the churches fall to pieces, 
like stones falling from an old building : many have been there long 
enough ; they are not squared and polished by the priest. A living 
mind cannot be reconciled to a dead and speculative system ; and 
every priest hates a change, for he dreads the day that is coming 
when every one shall come unto the Lord " without money and 
without price." They make a great cry when any person leaves 
them ; they say he will be lost, but he that is sincere is found of 
Christ and comforted — my soul bearing witness of my hand; for I 
no more covet what they possess than I do what is in Babylon. 
There is no doubt of a fall : this cry doth not issue from a throne of 
contentment, but from a throne of fear ; and doubts are arising in 
church and state affairs, and he that doubteth, is already damned or 
condemned ; for doubtings are not the issues of grace. The Lord lov- 
eth the man that cannot help himself; his heart is an open door for 
the reception of the Lord ; he will take the stranger in — he will give 
him drink, when he is thirsty, food when he is hungry — he will clothe 
the naked and feed the fatherless — he will visit the sick, and those in 
prison, for the soul of Christ is there suffering for our sins, that is not 
to say he is not reconciled with God in heaven ; for the father was 
well pleased with him when he was groaning for our sins. Till we 
relieve the afflicted, the Son of God will not be at rest with us. While 
the effects of sin remains, those on whom they are visited are objects 
of our mercy, till the whole world is saved. The Son of God suffered 
for all : he has bought us with a price, and we are his ; and he that 
knoweth the Son of God is no man's property or servant any more. 
The Son of God is kept from his right, as the creditor from his due ; 
for priests, elders, dukes and kings, rule in the heritage of the Lord : 
their power will be broken, the yoke that is heavy will fall from the 
neck, and small things will be raised up to confound the wise and pru- 
dent of the age ; and them that could not see, will have light — for this 



THE SON OF GOD IS SENT TO THE LOST, ETC. 245 

purpose said he am I come into the world, that those which were 
blind may see, and breathe out glory to God, their creator and 
Redeemer from the infirmities of sin. 



Hallelujah, sing his praise, 

The sheep t'was lost, again is found, 
And these are blest Messiah's days ; 

For he receives us safe and sound. 

In heaven above doth joys arise, 
Messiah s s resting here below ; 

The babe, the simple is most wise, 
For truth and wisdom binds his foe. 

Oh now the builder's stone is square, 
The axe nor hammer 's heard no more ; 

Our house is now a house of prayer, 
And God the cripples doth restore. 

The Lord 's well pleased in his son, 
That mercy to the farthest shows ; 

For these are days that were to come, 
The gates of death and hell must close. 

Messiah lived beyond the grave, 

And he his holy body wore ; 
He 's come again my soul to save, 

To give me life t'will die no more. 

Angels attend him on his throne, 

Good Moses and the Prophet 's there ; 

He 's bought us and we're all his own, 
And he rebuilds the house of prayer. 

He equalizes every stone, 

He 's building by Divine command, 
He 's made my spirit all his own, 

The prince of peace in every land. 

The trumpet breathes his lasting praise, 
His honours doth to heaven arise ; 

He lets me see king David's days, 
And every son, of equal size. 

He is the word that stills my foe, 
He is salvation t'was to come-, 
Q3 



246 IMPRESSIONS OF THE MIND. 

He lets my mournful spirit know, 

The power of priest and elders done. 

'Tis his appointed time to reign, 

He is one Lord of great and small ; 

His love and mercy 's come again, 
To seek and find and save us all. 



December 11th, 1834. 

Shepherds of North America, fortune or fate hath separated me 
from you, and I can have no acquaintance with you but by a paper 
communication, which I embrace as a privilege or means this morn- 
ing, as I am separated from all the Christian Churches in existence. 
There may be a purpose in my appointment in this service ; it will 
either tend to establish that which has been, or remove that which is 
good for nothing in a greater or lesser degree according to the abili- 
ties of God given. 

I do not agree with you in your saintish appearance of great per- 
fection. I would believe with you if the evidence you bear was 
according to your faith, that is, the impressions of the Holy Ghost 
upon the mind. I defy profession to rise higher than it now is. How 
is it that the Holy Ghost has so divided the shepherds, and the shep- 
herds the sheep. None professes higher than my old friends the 
Quakers ; and according to their practice, there are two Holy Ghosts 
and two kinds of shepherds, and the one kind is rather against the 
other, and the Holy Ghost has gone into the law and contention with 
himself. We must not profess so, but that our friends have not con- 
tinued to follow their light, guide, pattern, or Son of God ; if not so, 
they are as gross sinners as those that did not keep the laws of Israel. 
It is just to believe that every one shall be judged according to their 
means. It is but a few short years since I was judged by them to be 
one of the grossest errors in life. The aged frowned upon me, and 
the young ones mocked me with scorn, for I was like one naked in 
the midst of a storm, without a garment ; (that means) I had no wit- 
ness nor defence against the arrows of the age. The archers bent 
their bow and shot not sparingly, and I was near to be slain with 
arrows from their Holy Ghost, (for my friends profess no rule in judg- 
ment so strenuously as the Holy Ghost, or God's Son Jesus Christ, 
the light of the world;) and their judgment inspired others to rise, 
/or I was thought to be the ruin of society, and a shame to the Chris- 
tian world. 1 wrapped this character or garment about me. The 



SHEPHERDS OF NORTH AMERICA. 247 

effects reached my heart. I went my way and wept ; I sat down 
under a vine of sorrows indeed, and freely partook of the grapes 
thereof. The Lord saw me weeping, and sent unto me a friend ; 
and our number increased from that day till this. But the gates and 
doors of the Churches are all barred against us ; we have to seek 
our bread alone or perish where we are. 

Now my good friends, by one I have received of the nature of 
you all ; for although my friends the Quakers have done this by me, 
there is no class of people I esteem before them in the various 
branches of the Christian Church. They have done this both for 
my good and their own, to prove that their spirit is weak to discern 
what will be, and that my soul could live without them in the world, 
and wear out all that garment of shame wherewith they have clothed 
me. Wondrous are the works of the Lord. These changes are the 
turns of his hand, and we will not dispute about them. As for a 
crown in a Christian name, there is no need of it ; there is no danger 
of losing the prize. All will have their due according to their deeds, 
and here we will cease to be judges one of another ; for the judges 
have failed respecting their brethren. We cannot measure what is 
to come by things that are past; and here the judges of past ages 
miss the mark and lose their arrows. Israel missed in the same 
way, as hath done our last judges in the Christian name. The same 
errors arise from the same spirit, — profession cannot ascend ; but 
deeds might exceed these. Every plant that the hand of God hath 
set in the earth is for some purpose ; all his works give him praise. 
There are many branches of the Christian Church : the Lord reward 
them as their works may be. If I cannot see the use of the plant, 
I am not justified to rise up and destroy ; the Lord hath not destroyed 
all the trees of the forest because the cedars of Lebanon exceeded 
them in height. I think it would be a deed of compassion for the 
big Churches to leave the lesser kind alone ; God may have a pur- 
pose in them that he hath not revealed to every hypocrite or exalted 
mind : and if I was no more to the world than the bitter herb by the 
way side, the thorn or the thistle, these are the workmanship of God, 
and the less we handle them the more comfortable they are. God 
has a purpose in all things that he hath made. It is but a lion-like 
disposition to destroy the lesser brute ; but so the Churches have 
gone on from the first to the last of them, till they are disarmed from 
every weapon, by the civil powers of the Christian world, but the 
tongue and pen. And these the priests and elders make use of as 
the last weapons of their defence to keep up interest, self-interest, 
and superiority in a Christian world. I have received what they 
had to give, as one receiveth of his unkind brother; and this is all 
the communion I have with the branches of the one great body, the 
Christian Church. I. hope and trust my soul will be the last sufferer 



248 IMPRESSIONS OF THE MIND. 

by these descending arrows ; for although they are only from the 
tongue and pen, they are grievous to those that are young in serving 
the Lord. The parent careth for the child, but the elder Church is 
always uncareful to her younger children that dissent a little from 
them for conscience' sake. Such proceedings as these has divided 
the Christian Church into zealous, dwarfish handfuls, for the sake of 
bigotry and superstition ; not for mercy, justice, truth and peace. 
All extension has but one centre ; there is but one original of all 
good. There is a time to part, and a time to come together ; it hath 
been fully tried. No one Church can conquer the universe ; but 
mercy and love as the Lord hath commanded can unite all these 
divided limbs into one body and will, when there is a resurrection of 
the dead, limb to limb, and joint to joint. All good will have one 
connection and be one body ; the wolf and the kid can agree. That 
death which came by Adam is essential. We are all baptized into it, 
and at the sound of a trumpet we shall arise ; and all that is good 
will remain, but that which is vain and profitable for nothing will be 
and is consumed in God's consuming fire, which is the baptism of his 
word or his Son Jesus Christ. 

The life given in the resurrection of the dead is a positive life ; it 
is that which was in the person of our Lord after he was crucified 
and had risen again : it bore him upward to heaven and God, and 
liveth forever. This is a life that cannot be crucified by all the 
existing Churches under the sun. If I am possessed of this life in 
my services devoted to God, they will remain ; for this life is having 
knowledge of the Son of God crucified, who in the soul can die no 
more, all can profess : but God is the substance and the evidence of 
every truth, and time alone must prove for us all. I believe (hat 
humanity is nearly done being a Lord in religion. I believe the 
race of Adam is almost accomplished, and that he will return unto 
the Lord his God as he was first made ; and for this purpose hath 
the Son of God been sent into the world, and never will return till 
his mission is accomplished. His spirit appeared in that holy person 
Mary's son, but did not continue in the world, or there had been no 
persecution in the Churches. The reign of Adam was not accom- 
plished, and he gave his Son Jesus no rest here below ; but when 
humanity has finished his reign in the broad circles of the earth, the 
Jewish Messiah will reign : but the strong man armed keepeth the 
house till a stronger casts him down or out and spoileth his goods ; 
afterwards a better reigneth in his stead. God only is the Lord of 
humanity, the builder and maker of his frame ; he never was con- 
quered by the reign of all the princes or priests that hath ruled a 
Christian world. If the Messiah could not conquer or save that 
hostile Church the Jews, and persecuting to his reign, in his name 
the nations will not be saved from their sins ; but in the name of his 



SHEPHERDS OF NORTH AMERICA- 249 

Father shall Ephraim no more envy Judah, and in his name shall 
peace be made through all the nations of the earth. Christ was and 
is the means, God the Saviour of us all. The means could not do 
iarther than the Father was with him ; he overcame the world in 
spirit, but the world overcame him in person, and he fled from the 
house of Jacob and the tents of Israel. He did not only ascend in 
person, but in spirit also, and revealed himself to but few afterwards ; 
but as this is the highest attainment in religion, the name of the Holy- 
Ghost, which has now tecorae a hiding place for hypocrites, (not the 
Ghost but the name,) satan himself hath chosen this garment or cha- 
racter to wear in the name of religion, and in this name I have suf- 
fered shameful tongue and pen abuse, which is hard to endure, be- 
cause it hurts the mind, and is not the deeds of mercy nor good will. 
Now hath satan clothed himself with his last garment. Adam will 
soon be naked again. The first will be last, Alpha and Omega; the 
beginning will be the end. There is but one God and one order of 
3ife. When all the various means are summed up into one, they will 
number no more than one man and one woman, nature and God. 
Here satan first began his reign, and here it will end. God will 
tabernacle with man, and there will be God and man again, no ser- 
pent or mediator between, it is near at an end, when satan is where 
he began. The covering shall be taken from our father, and the 
man shall see himself, and the man Jesus will pass away when his 
mission is fulfilled, as his body ascended back into heaven. Between 
God and man is Satan's place, and Christ came from heaven to 
abolish his name from between man and his Maker, that every soul 
should have knowledge of his builder and maker, who is God, and 
his word or Christ the means and maker of us all. When will the 
American shepherds learn that day, our divines will turn into huma- 
nity, for that they are, and that they were, when they begun : climb- 
ing up into the mediatorship, to reconcile man to God, that cannot 
reconcile man to man ! because they cannot reconcile to God — they 
cannot reconcile one to another. They have sat, dividing the goats 
from the sheep, from the right hand to the left, till the Christian faith 
is like unto a sheet of paper, or a law divided into thousands — the 
parts in a church must be small, nevertheless, it as as the heart of 
the members of the various bodies. So truth and justice hath been 
degenerating down into little pieces, of which our shepherds hath 
professed to be the stewards, preaching one God, Saviour and Medi- 
ator to the house of Israel. Let the judge come down from his seat, 
for God is coming to judge the world by the event of our deeds; and 
in this way all shall know him from the least to the greatest, and all 
flesh shall see the salvation of God. I am unshaken in the faith, 
although it is a gift of the wilderness of Upper Canada, that God 
will set the Churches free from tribute, false mediators and self-con- 



250 IMPRESSIONS OF THE MIND. 

ceited judges ; for when satan is done, humanity can rule no more : 
he is but the deceived and deceitful man in earthly things, unskilful 
in the voice of God, and leads the world astray. I am not minded 
to keep up an argument with the priest or his flocks; it is but the 
abuse of Scripture to make swords of sentences to hew down each 
other. All controversies must be left to one judge to decide at last ; 
and peace is ordained to be the ruler of the universe and governor of 
the world. I am no Scripture critic, of small education, and no study 
about the things of God. I wait with patience on the Lord, and I 
am content with small things, and from my closet visit the ruler of 
nations, the priest and his chosen flock. If I write more, I trust it 
shall be the will of God which is in heaven ; for I am tired of that 
deception that hath appeared in Scripture clothing in the name of the 
Holy Ghost. When the means that God hath given by Scripture 
evidences are united into one body or one mind, the world will have 
a Saviour, and his glory will appear in ancient Israel. 



Oh may my spirit live to see 
His elect, and his great decree, 
And every nation have the Son 
That was, and is, and is to come. 

Oh may Jehovah's name arise, 
The wise exalted to surprise; 
Oh may the suckling babe appear, 
To heir the love of Jesus dear. 

How vain is this contending strife, 
The end of pride and human life ; 
Oh may my soul see better days, 
And all my heart prepar'd to praise. 

The sun will set again to rise, 
The least, the humble be the wise ; 
The highest mountain will be low, 
And straight will be the passage through. 

The seas no more will beat the shore, 
For man on earth shall rule no more ; 
'Tis sworn that time shall have an end, 
And those shall cease that do offend. 



[ 251 ] 

December a 7th, 1834. 
THE DISPENSATIONS OF GOD TO THE WORLD. 

The Deity revealeth himself unto us as the worlds were created — 
a day at a time. The more is revealed, the more is required, and 
every soul is judged by his own laws. It is God alone that measures 
the mind and bounds our abilities ; according to the pattern so we 
must build ; according to our strength are we required to bear the 
burden. That we are accountable to powers above will admit of no 
contradiction : it is the human desire of the mind to enjoy all things ; 
but give what latitude to the mind we will, or run to every excess in 
libertineism, we will c come as far short of fulfilling our human formed 
prayer, as before we moved hand or foot on the brutal journey. 
But these that will not believe in the revelation of God, and the laws 
and bounds of the mind, are suffered — not commanded, to take what 
sense they have, and set out on the independent journey, and when 
all is proved that the human mind can invent, or is hoped for, cometh 
short of the intended prize for which we run ; so I behold our present 
generation ; and a little child at the mother's breast or father's table 
is wiser than a generation of this description, adding the prince 
with the rest ; for the child is more contented than the king, or the 
wisest councils of the the age. The child has no wisdom to procure 
any thing, or treasure up for years to come, to place his hope upon. 
A return to this capacity is desirable, and although I wish not to use 
many scripture quotations, yet to prove the text true from the abili- 
ties of the mind, for which I am accountable to the Deity as for a 
divine or civil law that is written in a book. I have proved various 
scenes of life, and never have found that law written that is so 
extensive as the right means of one day, for this will last forever; 
we cannot live to-day for the morrow ; and he is but a silly one that 
flatters his mind with time to come. The food of the babe is in store, 
but the mother can retain the breast from her sucking child — the 
parent withhold bread from the table of his son. But these will not 
do this, they have great love to their children before they offend and 
irritate the mind. The Deity is to the simple, as one of these : he 
loveth his none-offending offspring — he never forsaketh them with 
the necessities of the day, and the love of God is the only sure and 
lasting store of the mind — the mind is a kingdom when collected 
together, if in favor with God he commands peace throughout the 
whole extensive empire ; and there is no riches that will compare 
with the order of the mind. There is no monarch or congress that 
can order a nation or their subjects, as the Deity can and doth the 
soul ; it is the contents of all good that is designed for man. He 



252 IMPRESSIONS OP THE MIND. 

crowns every faculty with a blessing and maketh the mind an equal 
kingdom of his own. He that hopeth for more to-morrow, than he 
enjoys to-day, is not happy at the present time, and all the child has 
to hope for, is a continuation of God's love. He that hath lived in 
this capacity for many years, is translated from a world of fears into 
a world of joys ; so is his mind changed from the common course of 
life, which by nature is the lot of all. If fears haih passed away 
doubting hath also passed away ; for fears and doubts are wedded 
together as the husband and wife. If the mind is contented this day, 
there is nothing to hope for to-morrow, and the soul is completely in 
the joys of the Lord. Long experience hath brought me here to 
taste of these things, and write to the world from thence of the 
kingdom of heaven and how the mind enjoyeth it. This is individ- 
ual blessing from the hand of the Deity, and if any miser or letter 
minded person, can write more instructively from the incomes of 
wealth or literary education, I will suffer my hand-writing to be 
blotted out and remembered no more, but if I reveal more from that 
little kingdom called the mind, than the miser from his chest, or the 
historian from his library; then it will stand the test in the public 
mind — that I have drawn wisdom from the deepest well, or gathered 
bread from the most distant or unknown regions of the mind, the 
contents of the mind is small, measured by the man, but the abilities 
to receive is greater than the globe ; for the mind will conceive both 
earthly and heavenly things — and contains a world of sorrows, and 
a world of joys — and there is no monarch that rules over so great an 
empire as the mind. This is the poor man's blessing, a happy mind. 
And, although I am content with my lot to-day — it doth not follow I 
shall be so to-morrow, for I only know what is the bread of the 
present time ; to-morrow I may be plunged into a world of miseries. 
But I am possessed of confidence to-day, that if it is so with my soul 
to-morrow, through past experience I am confident — and that without 
doubting, that if I suffer tribulation without sin, the hand of God 
doeth it, and it is only to reveal to my soul, the greater measures of 
his will — enlarge the mind by baptism, and bring that to light to- 
morrow, which to-day is unrevealed — as wisdom under deep waters, 
he only changes our diet to delight our taste, increase our love, and 
multiply our praise. How can the miser increase his joy? No way 
but by doing one thing over ; but the children of God, ever hath new 
bread from heaven ; for he giveth us these things which we could 
not hope for, because the eye never beheld them, neither hath it 
entered into the mind, the good things that are in store for the 
righteous. Our bread (if I may be so numbered for a few moments 
of my days,) is ever new and our praise increasing, and we shall 
buildup our house through remembrance, forgetting no-past favors 
of the Lord : they are engraven in the mind, and the righteous is 



DISPENSATIONS OF GOD TO THE WORLD. 253 

richer than the miser, for the treasure of his blessings never passcth 
away. The great mystery is to subdue the man ; then the Deity 
in his stead will appear. There never was a civil or religious law 
written, but was for the purpose of subduing and subjecting the 
human will. It is not the will of God that requires the law, but the 
will of the man. He that breaketh a good written law is a sinner : 
but he that serveth God cannot transgress a written law, because the 
Deity is greater than the law, he is God, but the law, the means 
given. It hath been the dispensations of God to the world, to give 
civil and religious laws to his creature man, and by the study of 
them — the literary object hath received an apprehension that he is 
wise and worthy of a high seat at Court, where criminals are to stand 
at the bar. No where doth supremacy reign or rule in higher station 
than the Church or religious laws. Here the literary doctor sits as 
Judge over his offending brother for transgressing the laws of the 
Lord. If the laws of God are taught to the people, it is enough, and 
I would recommend the literary giant to still his tongue about sin, as 
God is a judge of his own laws, and knoweth best to whom they are 
given. God did not require all the earth to be Jews, and they are 
therefore not judged by the Mosiac law. The laws of God are 
between man and his maker, and he hath placed no Judge between, 
but one mediator, one that knoweth the will of God from first to last, 
from the time that man was made until now, or all time that ever will 
be. The civil law is between man and man — containing, binding 
and bounding the duty of one man to another, and while we are 
under the dispensation of sin, it is right in these respects that we 
should be judged and directed by them. But by the grace or gift of 
God, a man fulfilleth all righteousness, and the civil law is no 
fetters to his feet ; but bonds to him whose heart is inclined to sin. 
Now, I believe that the priest from the pulpit, should administer both 
these laws to the world civil and religious ; teaching all men of their 
necessity, virtue aud effect to the mind. But the want of the true 
administration of these things — as a just application to our necessity, 
hath introduced bad government into the world, and discontent about 
the law of nations. The priest's disciples are busy about these 
things, and they have more trouble than their master, the image in 
the pulpit, for they have neither been rightly taught how to receive, 
or administer as a nation of people, and kings and congress has to 
find by experience what is best to be done : there is no eye in the 
church to foresee events, nor to direct the remedy to the cause. 
Now, we know it hath pleased God, through his multiplied mercy, 
to give civil laws to the world, as a remedy to our necessity, and 
reilgiouslaws, whereby we might offer devotion to God. But sin and 
satan has ascended into these high stations, and our deeds of life 
produce much discontent in the world. Trouble denotes a fall — if 



254 IMPRESSIONS OF THE MIND. 

the pillars shake, the whole house is in danger; if I am not mistaken 
this is the case with the highest stations in life, in both our civil and 
religious laws. That which is well done, will admit of no improve- 
ment. If the shepherd is no wiser than the sheep, the flock has the 
name, without the virtue. Why are priests paid for repetitions? The 
children's bread is ever new. God never troubles that with which 
he is reconciled ; but he often rebuilds, where the work is not well 
done. It is a strange thing, that the priest knows religious laws, 
and the will of God concerning his flock ; but is dumb in the day of 
tribulation in civil matters. Suffer me to tell you, that Moses of the 
old dispensation, was a wiser shepherd in his age, than the most wise 
and learned eclesiastics of our age ; for when there is trouble on 
earth, they can prescribe no remedy. But Moses saw the necessity 
of civil and and religious laws, and administered daily unto the 
people, supplying thereby the wants of Israel : their bread was new, 
and God multiplied his blessings upon them. If these good dispen- 
sations were connected in one mind, as in the heart of Moses, the 
necessities of this present world or age would be supplied. But Oh, 
divided people, in church and state systems, a fall-precedes a rise. 
The exaltation is to the mind, or man that abases himself, and the 
fall to the self-exalted, as God equalizes the faculties of the mind, 
and blesses all — and condescends to our low estate, to bless us with 
means where we are, and comfort the soul. If his spirit was in the 
mind of our administrators, through these the whole world would be 
comforted. I impute no sin to any church or nation of people, farther 
than our professed written laws may direct : if the shepherd findeth 
not the pasture, the flocks are dissatisfied, a change of pasture is well 
pleasing to the sheep, as daily bread to the soul. I have a few part- 
ners in life, I never repeat one communication twice over, nor sing 
one old hymn in worship : bread from heaven is our lot — descending 
mercies. Our church government is mercy to all, and the forgiveness 
of sins, our civil capacity is deeds of love according to the necessi- 
ties of our brethren, and I have been administering both these 
capacities to our friends, and give direction how they may serve God 
and honour the king — and all these small matters have been of good 
effect to us, and it will not be beyond bounds to say, we are at peace 
with all men ; but it would be beyond our measure to say, it will be 
so with us to-morrow and forever; for sorrow enlarges the mind, and 
redemption from sorrow is a divine favor — enlarges the mind — 
increases our blessing, and multiplies our praise. A little leaven 
leavens the whole quantity. 

If biggots would bend to the necessities of the people, the world 
would be more happy. If the eye of crowns, and congress were 
fixed more peculiarly on the lower stations they would be more 
blessed. 



DISPENSATIONS OF GOD TO THE WORLD. 255 

To conclude, the law of Lord is the rule and government of the 
mind, and the small man may make his soul through humility as 
happy as the king, and his own small tent or dwelling, as the house 
of congress, or the great senate of North America, or the united 
colonies. Peace is the proceeds of wisdom, and hirn that maketh 
the most, is the most blessed. Now in the midst of the ruling pow- 
ers of the reformed churches, the members or flocks are not taught 
how to serve a republic with that reverence and respect, that is due 
to so good ani nstitution ; and the house will fail on the priest's head, 
not the government, but the errors that are so justly due to them. 
They have been the means of making disturbance themselves, what 
can be expected of the weaker and illiterate mind ? The heirs of 
grace, disturb the world with discontent about earthly things : such 
faith as this might as well be tied to a mill stone and cast into the 
sea, and the civil powers of the world struggle on without such guides 
as these. The best sermon I have heard for a number of years, from 
the United States, was delivered by the congress, the best we have 
is with our parliament men, and the civil powers in the christian 
world hath gained the pre-eminence over the ecclesiastics. The 
next step is the flocks will be free, the universal law of the States or 
Empires will unite the people, and they will flow together through 
humility, when these hills and mountains are removed from their 
way, that parts the river and the stream. __ 



I am content within my dwelling, 
Nor am I foe to great or small j 

I some simple truths am telling, 
The way to comfort one and all. 

Truth is unexpected rising, 

Let the hills and mounts give way ; 
My humble mind is realizing, 

The good will of God this day. 

Through subjection, love, and mercy, 

Former dispensations rise ; 
Thus I find my soul is happy, 

Thus I know the babe is wise. 

Why should bigots plead for honor ? 

Why should gold enrich their store ? 
Here to-day, away to-morrow ! 

Dead and gone and seen no more. 



256 impressions or the minj^ 

So is wealth and tribute falling, 
Tis the rough and crooked way ; 

God the babe is gently calling, 
To his bosom all the day. 

Fond is he to see him weeping. 
Loving to redress his cries ; 

He 's the shepherd, he is keeping, 
Far beyond the vulture's eyes. 

All the little ones doth know him, 
For his mercy makes them smile ; 

He 's the husband he is sowing, 
Laws and truths to reconcile. 

Moses and the babe is coming, 
Hills and mountains flee away ; 

God again the church is clothing, 
See the dawning of the day ! 

Little things doth rise to praise him, 
See his mercies never cease ; 

The flocks on yonder hills are grazing, 
All around them walls of peace. 

In the vale is living waters, 

See the springs doth gently flow ; 

See we drink of our Creator, 
Share his blessings here below. 



f 257 ] 

December, 23rd, 1834. 
THE PILLARS OF GOOD GOVERNMENT. 

Government doth not consist in form or system, any more than 
true religion doth in ceremony — nevertheless, religion hath a form, 
and government system. The error of government lieth not in form, 
nor religion in church discipline. As one of these systems is not 
without the other, it is impossible to do justice to either of them 
without quoting to both these operating systems. Our Crowns and 
Congress, and their subordinate adherents, are the offspring of the 
churches — where the church is out of order, the government cannot 
be good. I acknowledge that priests ought to be at the helm of 
government, but not at the head of interest. It should be the interest of 
the priest to keep the nations at peace, and the flocks reconciled one 
to another. But the present acting church system is, one above 
another, and who shall be at the head-end of things in a religious 
capacity, and whose members shall govern the state. The national 
churches have given great dissatisfaction in this capacity to the sister 
churches — her dissenters ; so are things in Europe but not in Amer- 
ica. There have been many dissentions from the church of Rome, 
and some improvement, but the principles of superiority are still 
remaining in the bosom of the various branches of the Christian 
church, and here lie the pillars of bad government, and many there 
are that build thereon. A republic is a dissention from a monarchi- 
cal government, but the desire for wealth and power is still remaining 
in the republic of the United States, and these are the principles of 
home destruction every where. Equality is the principle of the 
greatest glory in the world ; the proceeds are justice to the whole 
earth. I am content with a monarchical government, but not with 
unequal interests and power. If a man's mind is a little redeemed 
from the love of wealth and power, which are the proceeds of these 
lower kingdoms, love and fellowship would abound. I am willing 
to be thought one of the most ignorant that ever took pen in hand on 
these subjects; but do not wish to be thought of as one that has 
missed the whole truth, and drawn a line of total errors — I think the 
advice of the Son of God to be good, and never-failing on these 
subjects, he commanded his ministers to look or seek for the endow- 
ment of neighbourly affection, and brotherly love. What do you 
think of the Judge in the pulpit, when he is weighing the tenets of 
his neighbouring society with his own ? he ever gives the preference 
to his own belief. Here is the proceeds of building on a bad pillar or 
sandy foundation : for such judgments are not of the words of God : 
if we do not like them we are not to use thera unequal to ourselves : 

R 



258 IMPRESSIONS OF THE MIND. 

the partiality of nations is not of the words of God, nor superiority at 
court; and he that loveth the titles of honor, is a hypocrite, and 
receiveth that which God hath forbidden. The priest is the chief 
speculator in the church system, he is a monarch, or a despot there — 
the rest are tributaries, but he is the receiver of tribute. We do not 
look for the servant to be greater than his master, or the desciple 
above his Lord, so did the priest, so did the flocks, and this dispo- 
sition is making some rents in the United States republic that will 
be found hard to mend. The storm has arisen that will not soon 
abate, a calm will be looked for before it cometh. If the master is 
good, so are the servants. The Son of God was and is a good Lord : 
in his name governments reign, and in his name are the pulpits 
filled. Israel were not all of Abram's spirit, therefore not heirs of the 
promise : all that have named Christ, are not of his spirit, for his 
mind is worthy of government and is "the prince of peace." He 
and his adherents, are the pillars of good government; and there is 
no other to equal them under the light of heaven ; he hath appointed 
them judges of errors and anointed them above their followers, and 
given as it were, thrones or a superior station to fill in life. They 
did not teach the nations that they should take more tribute than 
their master and then divide the spoil with their own particular fami- 
lies, as the ministers of the United States do, while they are speaking 
against a monarchical government and the decrees of our king. We 
cannot obtain the benefit of law without a lawyer, nor the lawyer 
without the fee — we cannot hear the Gospel without the priest, nor ob- 
tain the priest without the fee, and this system is in circulation through 
almost all the Christian churches, and if Senate and Congress prefer 
self-interest in State affairs, they are as much like the priest as the son 
is like the father, or the servant that doeth his master's will — they have 
all been to church before they went to Congress, and there they 
took their particular degrees, and when they have power fulfill them. 
When God was minded to reform Israel and redeem them from bonds, 
he chose a legislator and deliverer that was not fond of wealth or 
honour, for he never collected a tribute for himself, and he gave God 
the honor of all he did. When God was minded to advance the 
reformation of the Jews ; he sent his son, without tribute or fee 
— power, honor or glory in this present life, save to know the will of 
God and do it. When he was minded like his father, to redeem Israel 
from sin, and many Church and State errors, his first means was to 
redeem a few men from the love of wealth and honor, forbid them 
the title of rabbi, and the interest of the Levites, and send them into 
all nations to preach the Gospel without money or price ; but money 
and price is now at the helm of our present Gospel, Christ said to 
his disciples, "without me ye can do nothing;" and so it may be well 
said in this present age, without silver and gold, we get neither the 



THE PILLARS OF GOOD GOVERNMENT. 259 

benefit of law or gospel ; and the republics are welcome to their 
spoil, I envy them not — it will cost them dear enough before the 
event of such preaching is settled. 

Till the day cometh that the universal love of nations and societies 
is preached from the pulpit — the love of neighbors as ourselves, and 
practiced, there will be peace in no nation under the sun, for these are 
the principles or pillars of good government, and they should first ap- 
pear in the bosom of the priest the leader of the flock ; but if they are 
not seen there, the nation has no light ; for what avail is a shepherd 
but to be heard ? and for what end is he hired but to teach the people 1 
and why do people go to hear, save to feed on the pastures communi- 
cated unto them from their shepherds? There is great honor due to 
the Apostles of the Son of God : he gave them a title that is impossi- 
ble for us to take away. The world called them the off-scourings of 
the earth, but he that knew their calling, said, " the light of the 
world" — " the salt of the earth" — " the city on the hill" — truly they 
are the light of ministers of the gospel, and the highest station is 
allotted unto them ; we cannot rise up and cloud their days with 
ceremonies or system in church or state affairs ; " they that turn many 
to righteousness shall remain as stars or lights forever" — if they 
are the light of the world, they are so to the king and congress — they 
are so to the priest and pleader at law, and how shall we get clear 
of their example? How shall we receive a blessing on these that 
are contrary to the will of a long established providence here on 
earth 1 Christ acted according to the will of God, and the Apostles 
received their mission from him. Has his holy mind, now sent out 
a tribe of superiors into the world for money and price, contrary to 
these established lights — the fixed pillars of all good to the Christian 
world ? They that so believe, may build their house on the sand, 
and the judgments" of God will try the pillars of the house, and if it 
is divided against itself it will not stand, and this is the unhappy lot 
of almost all the existing governments in the world. And what hath 
republicans to boast of? they are as much at variance as the subjects 
of our monarchical government; and as dissatisfied with senate and 
president as we are with William our king. Good government doth 
not consist in form or system, nor religion in church order, or what 
is called sacred ceremonies ; but in the established principles of the 
Son of God, and his ministers, these are the pillars of the house — the 
salt that saveth the earth from spoil ; but where virtue is lost, the 
priest is good for nothing but to be cast out and trodden under the 
feet of men : and this will be the end of many that are professing to 
be gospel teachers: the salt hath no savor, but speculation and 
superiority is effectual. The people are not taught from the pulpit 
how to frame and administer good government : we are all climbing 
up after the priest, as the sheep followeth the shepherd so are we at 
r 2 



260 IMPRESSIONS OF THE MIND. 

the priest's tail. I got a terrible fall by this means, and fell from 
society, and the fall almost killed me : I am but just left alive to 
breathe out these sentences, and tell the world what a fall I got, 
what I fell upon, how I was hurt and am yet alive. I was in no 
small station amongst my brethren, the Quakers, in my own country. 
I stepped up by degrees of righteousness, so I was promoted in 
society till I began to speak publicly about the things of God, and 
the practice of men, and I fell (as it might be) in a moment, from 
the pinacle of the temple, clear down amongst the worst of sinners, 
and I left my good name on the house top, and received my bad one 
with the off-scourings of the earth. They that gave me a good name 
had a right to take it away, and these were my judges in both these 
stations of life, the good and the ill. Spiritual pride, or society mag- 
flcence, got a dreadful fall that day, the vessel broke, and the contents 
descended into the earth ; but it never bore fruit, it is gone to the 
lower regions of the world forevermore. I fv>und my soul was yet 
alive, and that I had only lost that which I had stolen ; for I had 
received the name of being good, with the rest of the world, but in 
reality was not so, it was only a title given of men rather than God ; 
for to be good is to be humble, and not to be a rabbi in the world, 
nor covet it. Do not the masters now govern in church and state 
— and private members of society vote according to their education ? 
Truly like the master, interest is at the helm of church and state, and 
the nobility think themselves worthy of tribute, or conscientiously 
they could not receive. 

The pillars of good government are equal principles, these were 
found in the heart of the Son of God in national affairs, or he would 
not have sent one humble and self-denying means to all the nations of 
the world, to teach equality love and fellowship between nation and 
nation, society and society, man and man. These are the lights of 
the world, the salt that saves the people, the city on the hill that 
cannot be hid. Their tenets, principles and doctrines, will be called 
upon before the seas are still, or the storm abates. You may say 
the gospel is preached — I may say it is not practised, and we will 
say that the greatest hypocrites in the days of our Redeemer were 
preaching doctrines worthy of observation, but themselves practised 
them not. These doctrines did not avail to redeem the world ; nor 
give the hearers a knowledge of the truth ; neither doth what is now 
taught, but unpractised lead the flocks into the principles of righteous- 
ness ; for the salt has lost its savor, the light of nations hath gone 
out ; the flocks stray for want of-the true shepherd's care, and the 
administrators of government find themselves in a troubled day — the 
tempest beats from every side, but they cannot still the storm. 
While speculations abound, the nations will be at war — the flocks 
discontented, and a house divided against itself. The effects of these 



THE PILLARS OF GOOD GOVERNMENT. 261 

things are, to most seriously teach us the failings of our guide, and 
him that hath sold the gospel for silver hath sold his nation for gold : 
he that receiveth the title of Rabbi, and receiveth tribute therefor, 
hath made his brother a servant and a slave, and [ escaped with my 
life to tell you these things ; and until a day of reformation and 
repentance, republics are no nearer the city of peace than the mon- 
archical governments of the world : what hath ruined the peace of 
one hath destroyed the administration of the other — unjust specula- 
tion and robbery in the church. 

Oh how can I presume to sing, 

My station is so dark and low, 
Or how can I an offering bring, 

And offer to my strongest foe. 

The priest 's the doctor of my soul, 

He 's both the steeple and the bell ; 
The waters round with billows roll, 

The cause the doctor cannot tell. 

We scarcely find a soul at rest, 

But yet we hear the shepherd's prayer ; 

Few are the flocks we find are blest, 
And yet the hired shepherd 's there. 

What ails my soul, the world may say, 

We 've agents in the world around : 
But oh we see a troubled day, 

Where teaching and where prayers abound. 

What ails my mind that 's all alone, 

Or Oh my soul where is thy rest ; 
To thee the cause is truly known, 

And why the nations are distress'd. 

Reach forth thy hand with deeds of love, 
(Although thy orf'ring 's young and small,) 

It is a gift from heaven above, 

And given to thee for one and all. 

Cease, cease, Oh speculating hand, 

Oh priests, from barter all be free ; 
And you shall teach and bless the land, 

And all around your light will see. 

Take up your station with the poor, 

Let seats of honor tempt no more ; 
In you the land will find a cure, 

And peace, good Jesus will restore. 
r3 



act 



IMPRESSIONS OF THE MIND. 



January 22nd, 1835. 
A CALL TO REPENTANCE, AND THE REVELATION OF GOD. 

A fall to society is the Lord's decree. If Israel could not stand 
that is now the wandering Jew, on what pillar do we place our con- 
fidence, that our little, exalted, parcels of souls will remain, that sit 
above their brethren ? Israel of old fulfilled the same station ; and 
why was it so ? The shepherds, the guides sat in the seat of Moses, 
but did not fulfil the space allotted them to perform, neither do these 
exalted priests, of little parcels, that have set their brethren above 
the rest of the world. If repentance is called for of the Most High, 
it follows that the sin is revealed of which repentance is required. 
Did the Son of God exalt his ministers above any kingdom, city, na- 
tion, kindred, people or tongue ? Nay, he made them the bread of 
life unto all, and the light of the whole world. Let us observe our- 
selves by these unextinguishing lamps that were lighted by the hand 
of God and trimmed with oil from heaven, and we shall see they 
were servants to all people, without partiality or respect ; so in the 
resurrection we shall see the impartial love of God to all people, but 
his most peculiar objects are these that are lost. How differing is 
this day, when the righteous shut themselves up in parcels from the 
rest of the world — close shutters, or close the veil that was rent by 
the death of the Son of God ! and the holy of holies purchased to 
all people by his blood ! Shall we close the veil again and make his 
blood unto us of none effect ? 

If Israel had pleased the Lord, he had not taken the inheritance 
from his hands ; but to eat and drink with sinners, was a capacity too 
low for the exalted hypocrite to fulfil. Who slew the Son of God 1 
The self-thinking righteous ; and they are the worst of men the earth 
bears up. The Son of God came to save exalted sinners, and they 
despised him for his humility, and hated and envied him for his supe- 
rior talents or wisdom. If you can find more wickedness in one mind 
than was contained in these, you will discover unto me those things 
I have not seen. It was Pilate's interest to please the people, and 
office is filled with his likeness till this day ; and some of your prelates 
err from the truth to please the people, and change the tongue to 
obtain the fee. All these things are obvious with us, and yet they 
hope to rise, or at least stand where they are and increase. 

Do you believe that Israel should repent of their sins, little secta- 
rians? I do of a truth, and I am willing to repent with them, and 
ask it of you also. Was not their sect so high in their eyes that 
neither the prophet nor the Son of God could have acceptance with 



A CALL TO REPENTANCE, ETC. '263 

them? Truly, and we are exactly wearing the same image. No 
people or priest are like our own, and the imperfections of our neigh- 
bours are treated with contempt as the dust. 

The principles of your government will change, united America, 
and the exalted doctrine of your bigots will be hewn down, and very 
little good will be found in the great substance ; it is three quarters 
dross or sectarian pride, supported by exaltation and covetousness. 
He that hath fallen feels the smart of it. I know how it hurts the 
bones, or breaks the mind, that is not stronger than the shell of an 
egg; so will your systems break, and the inside of them, almost all, 
run out on the ground that none can gather up again. I am not wri- 
ting for a fee, or smile ; if so, I would bend the knee, and please my 
master. I am not in office ; I am independent, with the few crumbs 
I possess, and believe religion to be the universal love of all men. 
If we love a child or friend, we use our best endeavours to heal their 
complaint ; we are affected with their cries, or their errors reach 
their mind or the man within. When I am writing to you, I know 
that I am like one that is throwing chaff against a giant, with which 
he cannot be slain, for you do not think yourselves indebted to name 
or nation for wisdom or for strength ; but while I am casting chaff 
abroad, a blade might get into the sectarian priest's eye, and he 
might have to rub some time before he would get it all erased from 
his sight, or call on his neighbour to cleanse the mote away. Them 
that think they see, are to be made a little blind, that they may be 
the more humble. If Messiah returns, he will come as he went 
away, closing the eyes of the self-conceited, — suffering judgment 
from Pilate's throne, or those that deliver their sentences to please 
the people. He was every sinner's friend ; he communed with them, 
and revealed his humility and mercy to their minds. He did not 
exclude them from his body or blood, or forbid the bread of life that 
God his Father committed to his trust. He rent the veil that all 
might see alike ; but Oh what distinction is now made ! what holy 
things within the veil ! what conversions ! it is of a truth, almost the 
full reign of the Pharisee. Every priest has got on the sheep's 
clothing, but has not obtained the lamb's heart, or there would be 
freedom and friendship, and on all days the sinner would have a 
kind, loving, and merciful friend. 

I believe in the salvation of the world ; and for this purpose is my 
feet released from sectarianism, and my soul possessed of univer- 
sal love that where I am sinners and publicans can be with me. 
This is the cause why we should repent. Part of the world are 
exalted above their brethren ; and these that profess to be lights in 
the world have become stumbling-stones in the way of the weak, 
and are rebuilding or building up Judaism again in the name of 
Christ, as the light-hearted did in the name of Moses. These tot. 



264 IMPRESSIONS OF THE KIND. 

tering towers are preparing for a fall, and Church and State mea- 
sures will be greatly affected with it. If we walk after fallen Israel 
we shall fare with them. Legislators ! turn your attention to the 
poor and lower orders of the world. Distribute part of your tribute 
money for their education, and your country will be possessed of 
more talent, and your loving mercies extend to nations abroad. 

Pulpit gentry ! plead the cause of sinners, be loving, kind and 
merciful unto them, for through your means they are appointed to 
be saved, and none of them shall be lost. Though a man shall die 
in his sins, and in them to Christ he cannot come, his spirit shall 
live again, repent of all, be baptized, and his soul shall live. Teach 
the universal love of God to all men. Come down from your high 
places, walk and talk with them, fill up the image of Christ through 
the mercies of your God, and the world shall be saved from their 
sins. 

Sing of universal love, 

See the waters deep and clear, 
See the holy harmless dove, 

Jubilee is drawing near. 

Rend the veil and let us see 

What is in the mind within; 
Holy blood was spilt for me, 

Mercies to my deepest sin. 

To the sinner, to his breast, 

Oil and wine and love apply ; 
Thou shall go before to rest, 

Dwell below and upward fly. 

Humble station ever bless'd, 

Harmless lamb and dove is there, 

Dearest partners of my breast, 
Stars of light my shepherd's care. 

Love is like the water streaming, 

Chrystal flow from Zion's hill, 
Love of God is so redeeming, 

Bidding sinners' foes be still. 






[ 265 "J* 

January 29th, 1835. 
UNITED COLONIES OF NORTH AMERICA. 

1 have not a mind despising nations nor upholding pride. The 
God of Jacob hath committed a few things to my trust, and I am ac- 
countable to him for what I do, or by his judgments I must suffer for 
what I leave undone. I am independent of society, and shall not 
reproach any with what I do. I am poor in estate, and alone in pub- 
lic service. I solicit no kindred or friends to join with me in the 
•cause ; and for all that is committed to my trust I am accountable to 
God. Sectarians are the present light of nations, and you are pos- 
sessed of your share of them, and much counter doctrine there is 
up and down in your land ; many there be that assume the highest 
station, and your government hath followed after them. " Your inde- 
pendence has become a boast, but you have lost your humble minded 
Washington, and your peace is rather on the decay. The Friends 
or Quakers were at the head of sectarianism ; but they have received 
a new name, and since that day I know them not — their one hath 
become two, and their own profession or spirit hath rent them apart, 
when no one envied them. Their rent hath been to me a cause of 
sorrow, because of my former love wherewith I loved them. This 
evil hath come upon them because of pride ; for while they accounted 
themselves the foremost of the flocks, their judgment must be that 
other sectaries were more unworthy of the high seat than themselves. 
The hand of God is ever ready to fulfil the prophetic sayings of his 
Son. Those that exalt themselves shall fall ; and this is an ancient 
decree that took place in Israel, and never will abate as long as men 
continue to exalt themselves. I must be a little particular concern- 
ing the cause and merits of this fall that hath taken place with the 
Friends, that were once my brethren in North America. I think in 
the year 1812, I was shut out from communion with them. Since 
(hat day I have sought a home with society, but found it not. It is 
through their means I am alone. There is a small body of people 
with me consisting of a few hundreds ; but I am not a member with 
them, neither do they assume any control over my little services. I 
am unbound from all parts of the world, since the day my brethren 
pronounced me unworthy of communion. The storm arose, and I 
fled before excommunication. The cause of censure was, erroneous 
doctrine ; but I aimed at the truth, and could not retract what I had 
delivered. The elders were to me like lions, and the lambs were 
scarce ; every finger was pointed at me as if I was the great error 
and foe to society. I was not disposed to stand the contest, but 
bowed my shoulders, received my burden, and walked away. After 



2G6 IMPRESSIONS OF THB MIND. 

which I took much pains and travelled a great deal from Upper Ca- 
nada to the City of Philadelphia and New York to obtain a confer, 
ence. All was vain ; I was cut off forever. But I have taken my 
feeble pen this morning to pay the debt I owe unto them. My 
friends, it is this day on record that in the year 1812 I sent an address 
to your house or society, to this import, " that you would rend as a 
garment and your glory would fall to the ground." It is by your 
profession my soul doth live, and it is by your profession I address 
you this day. I have been grieved with your proceedings with me 
before and since I was excommunicated from your religious dwelling ; 
but the smart is gone, the Lord God of Jacob has healed the wound, 
and there is no spark of anger remaining in me : but I would be glad 
to see you face to face in public worship, but that is forbidden by your 
decrees. I have often asked the favour to worship with you, but you 
are resolved not to break them ; and this is the only way that is left 
for me to communicate to you and relieve my mind. I apprehend 
your fall (for so it is unto me) will be to your advantage ; it will in 
time humble your pride, and abase the exalted mind, and teach you 
that spiiit by which you fell was not the light of the world, but the 
exaltation of the human mind. Hereafter seek, my brethren, nor 
despise small things ; for your imaginations are as fallible as your 
brother's letter profession. The Lord is minded to equalize the 
world, if my understanding is true ; and he has begun at the head 
to bow down the hills, and raise up other people to be equal with 
yourselves. Boast not that these things have come that are yet to 
come. The Lord will have an equal people before he will have 
peace in this lower world ; he will redeem Israel to his home, and 
Christ on David's throne will order all things here below. It is the 
reign of kings and the administration of priests or ministers, in both 
spiritual and temporal things. The head of your Church destroyed 
the body; it was not the open sinner nor the young. Here you see 
the failure of men in judgment, and how the most wise thinking soul 
can fail in his decrees. You profess Christ to be the head of the 
Church, and so he is, while the members doth obey; but man assu- 
med the seat of judgment, and a right to reign or rule over the gifts 
of God. You made yourselves the sole judges of doctrine, and judg- 
ment hath cast down your fold to the ground ; for you are no more 
respected than your neighbours, for you divide in Jacob and scatter 
in Israel. Your judgment began with me concerning doctrines about 
the Son of God. You cast me away as a grain of sand from a 
mountain : I was accounted no loss to you ; you rejoiced in the vic- 
tory, blowed your breath upon me, and as you thought wafted the 
chaff from the wheat. But we were both in the hands of God, 
although not in one house. The lion did not cease to roar after me, 
nor communicate wrong things ; but this is my day to speak, it is a 



UNITED COLONIES OF NOETH AMERICA. 267 

morning after great sorrow, you soon found another cause to judge, 
the heads of your Church literally got at variance, and you could 
not settle the dispute nor reconcile man to man ; and a day hath 
come upon your judges that proves them to be physicians of small 
value. The garment is rent, and you cannot close again. You are 
the genuine followers of the light of this world, or the Lamb of God 
that taketh sins away. 

Now hear a cripple that hath borne a heavy burden, and hath 
done a little without borrowing of you, neither hath your name had 
lot or part in the work. The Lord is every where present, and giv- 
eth strength unto these that love his name ; but unto your house he 
hath given weakness or withdrawn his presence or his strength, for 
ye were not able to bear one with another, with the gifts of God or 
services of the Lord. This is an old tradition that was in Israel ; 
they stoned the prophets, and crucified the Son of God. Blessing 
never attends this disposition. Your judgment descended from your 
throne or gallery down into the minds of your children, and they 
troubled the grey headed till he went down into the grave. In this 
ye have done unrighteously ; and though you are justified by Eng- 
land, France or Spain, you are not justified of God, and following 
consequences will attend and prove it so. If a spark of doctrine 
ever rises again with you on either side, do not fill the bellows or 
your lungs with wind to blow it out ; for that which ye have judged 
to be chaff is as heavy as your wheat, and as fruitful in the world. 
Let your manhood judgment cease, and lord not over the heritage of 
God ; for the house is not yours, nor the gift given. If all things had 
come, and the salvation of the world was accomplished, then ye might 
say we covet no more at thy hands my Saviour and my God; but 
while the house of Israel are in captivity and we are prone to sin, 
let every medical aid be tried, one physician cannot heal all things, 
without abundant more virture than your society or either of you hath 
possessed. To conclude, let the children be free, till the doctrine is 
tried, we are not capable through our small measures to weigh the 
whole mind of the Deity, nor bound his revelation that he giveth unto 
man. 

Call every society your sister, and every labourer in the vineyard 
your brother, and be at peace with the world, and God will be at 
peace with you ; but you have corrupted the high seat with judgmerft, 
and the good profession with pride, and no more will you be exalted 
above your brethren. Sectarians ! behold your fate ; if these could 
not stand on the top of the mountains that hath professed to be led 
by an unerring spirit, what will become of those that are guided into 
a thousand ways by the impression of letters from what is called the 
sacred book ? While there are so many lords, the servants will be 
divided, and the world cannot be at peace. We profess but one 



268 IMPRESSIONS OB THE MIND. 

Lord, faith and baptism, but creeds, tenets, and doctrines without 
number. Can one good Lord Jesus Christ be the author of this 
abounding contention there is on earth about heaven and hell, God 
and the devil? I think not. He communicates one understanding 
to all men because he is the Prince of Peace, but a diversity of gifts 
from one body or spirit ; but these accord and at last centre into one, 
the bosom of Christ Jesus the Saviour and Redeemer of the world. 
Humanity hath effected this dividing plan ; and no doubt but God 
hath seen it meet in his wisdom to provide a fall for all that exalt 
themselves. The body of people called the Quakers were equal in 
wisdom and in righteousness to any sect in your Colonies ; yet the 
hand of God hath borne them a little downward, and is removing 
this earthly crown from their head that nations hath put upon them. 
You will follow them, (that are standing by,) delighted with the great 
fall of Quakerism ; and your government boast of independence will 
not be able to retain peace on your shores or possess a quiet home. I 
write not by way of reflection, neither are these lines the issues of 
ill-will, but my simple sense of a coming day, and the now impres- 
sions of my mind. I need not add doctrine from my limited store, 
for the hand of God will scourge before he will heal ; we shall smart 
before he cures the wound. If I may speak as a sectarian or states. 
man — we have been casting others down for ages past, and as we 
meet unto others shall we receive again, sectarian pride and govern, 
ment. Exaltation will prove a curse or scab to your Colonies, but 
through repentance it will be cast off and the wound healed. 

Come to the valley join and sing, 
The greatest has a Lord and King, 
The least doth heir a Saviour's love, 
Be wise and harmless as the dove. 

It is through sorrows deep we rise, 
Through tribulation the more wise, 
And by our falls let 's humbled be, 
And Church and nations all agree. 

When peace is made the kingdoms come, 
The sun 's arose — his will is done, 
His father is in heaven at rest, 
By whom alone we can be bless'd. 

My measures are small, and I am in a solitary part of the earth, 
the lonesome wood of Upper Canada. Wherein I have come short 
of the truth as may be discovered in this day or hereafter, ascribe it 
to the weakness of the human mind, or a mis-informed soul ; but 
where I have marked out the truth, the honour be to God, for he 
hath been my friend when all have forsaken me. Amen. 



The reader of the foregoing pages will doubtless be led to enquire, 
who or what is he the author ? To answer the enquiry is the pur- 
pose of the following testimony, now written by those who have had 
the best means of knowing him from the years of his minority, and 
number one of us for almost thirty years past : 

He was left without a father at an early period of life, and was 
cast as an orphan into the world, having to struggle through years of 
penury : finally his lot was cast into Upper Canada, from whence 
we now write. His mind became impressed with some visitation 
which led him to believe in a spirit operating on the mind, and very 
early directed his steps, and brought him to seek out the meetings of 
Friends, or Quakers, where he sat in silence with that people. He 
afterwards became a member with them, and was much sought unto ; 
friends saw or discovered a devout turn of mind in him, much given 
to silent devotion, a faithful servant, and of solid judgment. After 
seven years service in the church, that visitation or impression which 
first led him to their meetings, he thought required him publicly to 
testify of the being of a God. The doctrine delivered by him was 
not received by that body of people. He then retired peaceably to 
his own house ; some few followed him, who were anxious to obtain 
better information. These patiently heard, weighed the subjects and 
found full unity and friendship with him. His life was singularly 
spent, between labour and devotion, often retiring to bye-places, fence 
corners, or the woods ; always allowing one hour in the after part 
of the day for any person who might be working for him to retire also 
for devotion, if they inclined so to do; never employing any person 
without first seeing the way to pay when wanted or required ; living 
in peace with his neighbours, never disputing about any points of 
doctrine. His doctrine was unto us very singular, who were bred 
up strict sectarians ; he pleads the sinner's cause (not the cause of 
sin) and convinced many of us of our partial dispositions. He hath 
written much, and to our surprise, hath often delivered publicly, and 



[ 270 ] 

also wrote truths which has proved to us that he was favoured with 
some foreknowledge of events, which has come to pass within our 
knowledge. He is a man of scarcely any education ; but hath been 
able to teach us doctrines we never knew. He is no sectarian, nor 
pay preacher — his mind (as he has often intimated to us) has travelled 
backward from the last dissenters, until his mind dwelleth much 
with Abraham, Moses, David and the prophets, and latterly he has 
been engaged in writing some manuscript in favor of the restoration 
of the Jews, and the downfall of Christian sectarianism. He never 
rails, ridicules, nor despises any people's mode of worship ; believing 
that every sincere effort of people, in any society, is an acceptable 
sacrifice unto the God of heaven. As a minister, we with him, are 
in perfect unity, harmony and peace. 



Signed, for the Village of Hope, where he resides, by 

MURDICK McLEOD, Senr., 
WILLIAM REID, Senr., 
JOHN DOAN, Senr., 
SAMUEL HUGHES, 
EBENEZER DOAN. 



FRIEND TO BRITAIN 



BY DAVID WILLSON, 



EAST GWILLMBURY, COUNTY OF YORK, AND PROVINCE OF UPPER CANADA. 



TORONTO: 
1835. 



TO THE EEADEK. 



I am not partially affected to church or nation ; but a servant and subject 
to the King of Britain. The good of his subjects and peace of hia 
Throne, has been my devotion, or aim, for many years. It is through 
warm affections that I have exposed my mind to public censure, by pub- 
lishing my sentiments on the yet existing errors in the British Empire. 
I have also added my apprehensions of the following consequences of an 
unrepenting people. But the conclusion can only be, that all are but 
the sentiments of a frail man that knoweth but little of Foreign affairs, 
clouded and shaded with the wilderness of Upper Canada. From the 
remotest habitation have I drawn these lines, they are the productions of 
an afflicted mind, given to the subjects of my Lord the King, 



December 1st, 1834. 

AN ADDRESS TO THE CLERGY OF THE CHR^TIAN WORLD. 

Believers in Christ, Shepherds of the Flocks, Pastures of Life, and 
the professed way from Earth to Heaven ! 

I address you as a stranger, having no spiritual or literal 
acquaintance with your ways : ye are they with whom I have no 
acquaintance in life. I am alone with a few brethren, this day in 
the closet, and write from the secrets of my soul. Where you came 
from I know not : I might trace you back to birth, but not to Moses 
nor the Prophets. I am acquainted with them ; but I know not 
your origination there. I have read of the man Jesus, who also is 
called the Christ, and his Apostles, but your image is not engraven 
in the account of them. I am acquainted with the civil powers that 
are, and have at sometimes acted a little in concert with them in 
practical reformation ; but I saw you not there ; it was your practice 
of life we were trying to improve, and such a day I never saw, for 
the flocks have arisen to correct the shepherds. What will become 
of the flocks is a serious enquiry : I believe they will be blessed, 
and you may follow after them for a lime, for the crumbs they 
may afford. Civil legislation had origination in the heart or spirit of 
Moses : but hired servants to preach or teach the gospel, had no 
origination there. He said, when the Messiah came (whom you 
profess,) he should be heard in all things. But it appears that you 
belong to the tithe plan, and are cut oft' from the unbelieving Jews : 
I do not know where you will get your living by and by, except ye 
learn some other occupation, for the flocks have openly revolted 
against the covetousness of their shepherds, but are dealing kindly 
with you, until you can find some release. Now be it known unto 
you, these that can do so much for themselves, can do more, and the 
day is coming when there will not be a shepherd of your likeness in 
the whole Christian church. Ye have divided the church, and each 
shepherd shears his own followers, until the shears have made great 
contention in this world. Blessed are the peace makers ; but ye 
are not the heirs of it. Covetousness has destroyed your kingdom ; 
and a day of tribulation, deep sorrow, and anguish will arise, and 
you shall be cast out of it. The pen is taken from your hand, and the 
most just mode of reasoning is now found in the cabinet, civil courts 
and assemblies of the world. When will the helm return to your 
hands ? I trust I am safe in saying, never. For although there may 
s 



274 A FRIEND TO BRITAIN. 

« be honest hearts, and humble minds amongst you ; your mode of 
reasoning has become too weak diet for the age ; it is like milk and 
water to the world, and the best of you will be joined with the civil 

."powers, and act in concert with their will ; no more to rule in the 
Israel of the age. but be brethren to the commonality of the world. 
The high plat. Ia must fall before a day of universal restoration, 
before a day of general peace, before the millenium morning shall 
appear. But then ancient Israel shall arise, as the morning star of 
ancient days. I write from the mind : if my spirit is under a cloud 
of darkness, or false direction, then these things will not be. But 
before these lines are read by you they will be measurably fulfilled. 
I write to let you know, that the eye of heaven is upon you ; and that 
the calls of God have reached the wilderness, and that the God of 
Jacob is whispering in the ear of those whom ye call small things. 
Small and great are the Lord's and we have part in Israel's Saviour, 
the Messiah of the Jews. Now is the day of prophecy to the world, 
but not as in the days of Israel : we are neither Isaiah, Jeremiah, 
Ezekiel, or Daniel ; but writers of a few simple truths as they may 
i3ccur to the mind. The mind that has no peculiar object in view is 
/^/^TTikely to err in testimony. I have no wages at stake — no peculiar 
church to please or offend ; I have no office to gain ; I have none to 
loose ; I possess as much of this world as I need, and in these 
respects I am wanting nothing. I am writing for the salvation of the 
soul, and for the purpose of casting a few burdens off from my mind, 
to encourage reform— to increase hope in the salvation of the world-- 
the independance of the people — and sole dependence on God. I 
am not inspired by education, I need not say, for the frail form of my 
hand. writing or language will declare this to all that hear. I would 
willingly set my heart at rest, without this subject ; this latter service 
of my days with the pen, save I may write something by way of 
praise hereafter; but all souls are the Lord's, and it is of material 
importance to leave points of duty undone. The greatest hypocrite 
in life can profess as I do ; but I will let you know, that I am not 
dressed in borrowed clothes, the Lord hath given me or my soul a 
garment of my own, and I must not be ashamed to appear before men 
in my own simple clothing. Literary opportunities and information 
have been hidden from mine eyes : neither do I converse with men 
about the things of God, or the salvation of souls, until I speak of 
them openly. I am not the Priest's clerk, the Bishop's boy, the 
the Clergy's 'prentice, nor the Deacon's command. I am a poor and 
a lonesome man contented with small things. I have read a little 
of Israel, and of all the maidens or churches ; I am in love with them, 
for although they are cast off at present, their former blessings 
exceed all that crowneth the earth ; and you are walking after them 
towards their fall, but have not tasted of their hope to arise. I 






AN ADDRESS TO THE CLERGY, ETC. 275 

believe without doubting in the resurrection of Israel; and whatso- 
ever they have done good, to the resurrection of life, will remain 
forever. 

If there is to be no greater salvation than that which the European 
nations are preached into, in vain is the coming of your Messiah, for 
he set the Christian church free from tithes, and taught a free gospel 
to the world. He was an equalizor of the human family, and content 
with the least stores that were among them ; but as the steeple is 
above the chapel, so is the priest above the people ; and as the 
mother feeds the sucking child, the priest draws his wealth and 
grandeur there. Even the hand of the poor is reached abroad to 
place bread on the king's table ; and the king divideth with the 
priest. The sun is setting, my brethren, if I may call you so : it is 
enough for kings and priests to fare as their Lord, and not be exalted 
above him. I am content with the government I am under. It is 
no crime for Israel to have a king : it is a blessing to a Christian 
world to have a Saviour ; and the greatest monarch and priest should 
honour him. Will not his example preside over us ? Is he not rising 
by unexpected means to be Lord of all ? He is so professed — let 
him be so received. Has his practice, humility, and example been , 
preached by you, my friends ? If so, it has not been practised by 
yourselves. I will not say that you are hypocrites, or dressed in 
sheep's clothing ; but that you are someting that will pass away 
before the coming of a better day ; and as your station has become 
very high in life, there will be a great noise when it falls to the earth. 
I hope it will be without the sword and blood ; but I think in all 
places it will not be so. There is blood enough in the Christian 
name. The Clergy have been the cause of persecution and much 
blood to promote their reign ; but that which is built at the expense 
of our brother's blood will not remain forever. 

To this I would commend Israel, i. e. the blood of the prophets, 
and Christians to the blood of martyrs ; for we have this to drink for 
our diet, that is, sorrow unto repentance for the crime of past days. 
Why is not the world happy? Our sins are not repented of and our 
souls arc not at rest : singular indeed ! that the priests would stand 
in the way of improvement — the lights of the nation ; but the lamp 
is almost spent for want of oil. How much are the Clergy debtor to 
the world, for that which hath been taken contrary to the dictates of 
the gospel ? I will venture to say, more than all the mathematicians 
in England or Ireland can enumerate. Is there not great cause for 
repentance ? Were martyrs slain, that priests might rise and shear 
the sheep ? Permit me to tell you, in that day ye put out the light of 
nations, as Israel, when the prophets were slain ; and they never 
as a body of people have seen well since that day. If the New Tes- 
tament is true, they said, " let the blood of Christ be upon us and 
s2 



U16 A FRIEND TO BRITAIN. 

our children," but, on whom is the blood of those martyrs who have 
been slain for the purpose of the now standing, and our present 
churches ? The children of Israel have almost fulfilled a dear atone- 
ment for the blood of the prophets, and the Messiah; but you are 
living in pomp and splendour, while the blood of martyrs is crying at 
your gates. I am a kind of an original character, and look back to the 
Ancient of days for light. Why should I prefer you before the Jews ? 
The hands of the Christians are stained with blood; not only war 
but the murder of their brethren, who gave up their lives for con- 
science sake. If Israel had to answer dearly for this crime, (the 
Deity is not changeable in his mind,) you must answer for yours. 
Your spiritual courts issued these mandates : first killed your brethren 
and then went and preached the gospel to the poor, and took their 
bread and garments for revealing the will of God unto them. Now 
let it be no mystery unto you, that a judgment day has come ; it is the 
decree of God ; those that judge shall come to judgment, and the 
scale is gently turning on the balance ; the nobility are falling, and the 
commons are rising. Things never can be rightly adjusted while all 
the weight is in one scale : it may be you have judged the world 
long enough. Have you done justice when you gathered your bread 
from the poor? And your fathers slew the martyrs for the privilege 
of the opportunity of continuing the sum? The eye of this world is 
enlightened by the mercy of heaven, to behold the gospel is not in 
your ways, nor the spirit of truth in the mind ; for these that were 
directed by it do not do as you have done. 

I dedicate the foregoing address, chiefly to the most ancient 
churches in Christendom, and those that have persecuted others unto 
death for the privileges they now enjoy ; but not so much the adherent 
as the priest. He is the angel of the flock, and the successor of 
those who stained their hands with blood, from the selfish principles 
the Romish and some of the Protestant churches now stand upon: 
these are points of superiority, who have made themselves judges of 
the servants of the Lord, and the earth tributaries to their support; 
and every rising officer after the order of the priest, has reached 
forth his hand unconsciously to the spoils of the poor. It is but a 
few short ages since my good friends the Quakers were persecuted to 
prison, and from prison to death. How could such deeds take place 
under the gospel covenant of grace ? Was the widow's loss ever 
restored to her? Or the tender parent to the child ? No, you could 
take away, but not restore again. Of what generation will this 
blood be required, from Christ until now ? Are the Jews answera- 
ble for all ? No, Christians have had a reign, and the New 
Testament, the records of the blood of our professed Redeemer and 
his children. What churches have reigned and their desciples 1 
Rome, Scotland, England, in their turns have produced a hostile 






THE SANCTUARY OF THE I0RD. 277 

reign over the consciences of men. And though the present gene- 
ration may be in some measure clear, yet they are after the order of 
these that profaned the sacred rights of man, — have been at the 
helm of war to support their own purposes ; the sea and the field have 
been stained with human blood by their command, and the Lord 
calleth for repentance for all ; let his servants be free, he is Lord of 
all ; and the priest should be first weighed in the scale of repentance 
or their feet first in Jordan, for the promise of a holy life ; but now 
they are last to reform. — Amen. 



December 4th, 1834. 

The sanctuary of the Lord is in the midst of all things. The 
nearer my heart is to God my Saviour, the more I can see of his 
wondrous works ; the more passive is my mind, the more sensible 
of impression. The nearer I am to the centre of all things, the 
more subject to command. The more I am simple and ignorant by 
nature, the more ready I am to obey. The centre of a compass is 
the stand to see every point of the globe. Every good talent hath 
one giver : there is but one original of all good. 
T He that is the builder has the best sense of the workmanship ; and 
one God is impartially the maker of us all. It is written that hell 
shall give up the dead that are therein, and every part wherein the 
dead doth lie. There shall be a solemn restitution of all things that 
hath been from the beginning of the world until this day. If the 
father received the son that was lost, — (there is nothing farther from 
God than that which is lost,) — if he received him safe and sound, 
what part shall remain in hell, death, or the grave? for he was dead, 
and is alive again. What is farther from life than death ? Who ia 
farther from the kingdom of heaven than the lost? And these the 
Son of God is sent to save, and, as the shepherd, find the lost sheep 
of Israel. 

I will now proceed to writing to the whole world from my small 
tent or dwelling, that lonesome mansion called the mind. I have 
addressed the leading stars of the nation. Britain is my hope, for 
there I shall see the salvation of God. I love the king as my father, 
for he will receive grace, and be at peace with his people. Britain 
is the star of nations ; the sun will rise and shine upon her as morning 
rays on the western hills. Britain will become as a saviour to the 
world ; as the mother of nations, she will receive of God, and crown 
her offspring with peace. She has conquered her deepest foes, the 



278 A ERIEND TO BRITAIN. 

clergy. She has got the helm in her hand ; she is steering a right 
course for a happy kingdom in this world. Truth is at the helm, 
and justice appears in her servants as the dawning of the day. The 
sun will rise and crown with glory all her little hills, and the lowest 
stations of life will be glad in their king, and rejoice in God their 
Saviour. There will be great tribulation before the coming of these 
days, such as has not been or ever will be again. There is that 
born into the world that will become the pillars of the millenium, 
and the sons of Britain will build upon them. Truth establishes 
justice, justice mercy, and mercy love and the forgiveness of sins. 
The bonds are broken, the captive is free from his chains, the strings 
of the tongue are loosed, the pen is free ; and without a Lord or 
Master in this world, Britain can act for herself, the fetters will be 
left far behind, the chains will moulder down to clay, (the priestcraft 
of the nation.) These crafts have been as spots on the garment of 
our king, a shadow over the crown of his head. When the sun of 
righteousness shall shine upon his crown, a diamond shall appear 
upon his brow, and precious stones upon all his head ; he shall stand 
at the gates of Israel, his justice, love, mercy, and truth shall be the 
way to life. The day cometh that no government shall boast over 
Britain. They have long worn the chain, — the effects are deep, — 
they have reached the mind, the seat of life, and will be remembered 
forever. 

Hear a word from a friend, ye inhabitants of the isles. What God 
hath ordained and appointed will come to pass. He hath appointed 
Israel, the Jews, to be his people, and it will be so. God is their 
Saviour; to this end were they made, and their means is salvation 
to all the world. The globe has but one centre, nor Israel but one 
Saviour. The personal Son of God hath appeared, but the solemn 
effect is yet to come ; for though we say we have believed, (that are 
Christians,) we have not practised ; such a faith is dead, and renders 
our situation but little better than the Jews. The mind is not free 
in Christendom ; nevertheless I believe our rulers, governors, and 
priests to be equal to our righteousness. 

Isaiah hath said our Saviour should be called the Prince of Peace. 
Now query, if this prince hath ever had his reign in this world. 
When he taught his disciples to pray the kingdom of God should 
come, has an everlasting Father appeared to us? No, a day 
of universal peace hath never appeared, nor an everlasting Fath- 
er, for our councils are changing, our priests, ourrulers, and our 
kings; there is nothing more certain than this. There is a day 
to come, the likeness of Which hath not been seen, save by the pro- 
phets that have foretold of the salvation of the world. It is declared 
of this prophet, (the man Jesus, who hath given evidence of the sal- 
vation of God in this lower world,) " that he is the root and offspring 



THB 8AKCTUARY OF THE LORD. 279 

of Dtvid, a bright and morning star." He was the morning of the 
day; but that sun hath not arisen that will light the whole world. 
He was an uncomprehended light when he was in the world ; but 
what availeth that light to those that do not or cannot see? Had 
the Jews known he was the Messiah, he would have been received 
by them, as the first people in the world. It is true he was conceived 
and brought forth in Israel, and a remnant of them were the first to 
believe ; but Israel is kept in bonds, till the great day of restitution : 
and if they are not the first to receive the doctrines of universal sal- 
vation, I have not understood the prophets aright, but so I believe, 
and then to the whole world. Them that hath governed over the 
Jews in the Christian world, hath governed over us. Had church 
and state administration been after the order of the Messiah, as re- 
vealed by the prophets, they had been converted long ago and had 
received their home, been restored to David their king, and the spirit 
of truth on the throne of David ordering all things in Israel. But 
it hath not been so with us ; our deeds have covered them with blind- 
ness, that could not see well before. We say that we believed in the 
birth of Mary's son, but hath not produced peace in this world. He 
was to be a Prince of Peace. Where is he ? In heaven with God, 
but not on earth with us. There is not a nation in peace, neither are 
our subjects reconciled to their government, which is their king. 
Republicans are as far from the chambers of rest, as Israel from the 
promised land. 

If the Jews could believe the reign of the Messiah is with us, they 
must blot out the hand. writing of the prophets and banish hope from 
the soul ; for he was to restore unto them the kingdom free from tri- 
bute and from spoil. And the day will come that Israel will be as 
free from tribute as Solomon was to the nations that were round him, 
when he sat upon the throne in Israel ; and that tribute by which so 
many were lost in the revolt in Israel will be taken away, and the ten 
tribes return to Judah again for David's sake, for he was king of all, 
and therefore the kingdom of the Jews in the reign of the Messiah 
will be restored safe and sound. The lost will be found by him, and 
these that are apparently dead will live again. Can you believe, 
Christians, that the Messiah sits on your thrones? Can you believe 
he is in your dwellings? Can we believe he is in our proud minds? 
Can you believe he hath saved the world from sin, or restored even 
Christians to the kingdom of God ? Or can you believe the will of 
God is done on earth as it is in heaven, or that happy kingdom hath 
come unto us? Then we must believe these things are to come, or 
the prophecies are false, or the Lord's prayer is vain. You can reply 
that as many as have believed practically, have received the kingdom 
of God. So believe I by every righteous Jew that was born into the 
world before the birth of Christ; and all the Jews had one means of 



280 A FRIEND TO BRITAIN. 

righteousness, but all did not receive if, or all would have been saved % 
and where would have been the lost sheep of Israel ? The ordination 
of God is forever. The Christian world is not saved from such cala- 
mities as come upon Israel : hunger, sickness, blood, wars, woe, and 
want, and great division, and the downfall of kings and princes in a 
Christian world. I believe in a coming Saviour, but in no salvation 
without deeds of righteousness. If we would keep his revealed will, 
and Israel receive the prophets, he would be our great reward ; he 
would come into the mind and dwell with us. He hath made his per- 
sonal appearance in this way: we need not look for him any more. 
But he has a spiritual coming appointed of God ; and as he was in 
that holy and blameless person, so would he be with us and in the 
mind, leading us into all the truths of which the prophets hath fore- 
told, and his holy person revealed. A singular personal appearance 
will appear unto Israel, for a confirmation of their faith; but as the 
Messiah's personal deeds have appeared unto you, you have received 
them without doubting ; your faith is established in them, and by 
practice ye will be saved. He is the Messiah of which the prophets 
spake unto the world ; and I believe not in another, but in the fulness 
of his measure and the appearance of his latter days. 

Oh Britain ! draw near the Son, the centre of all good ; fulfil his 
lip direction and what the evangelist hath revealed to you, and he 
will appear upon your throne, and in the heart of every king (by the 
same means in this world) David is appointed to Israel. Moses spake 
of him, his spirit is fitted to the Jews, he believeth with them and is 
therefore of their brethren. The heathen shall hear his voice as a 
trumpet, and assemble at his gates. Through Israel's means shall 
the whole world see salvation. The Lord hath pulled them down 
to build them up, spread them abroad, to gather them together ; and 
their deeds will be made a light unto all people whithersoever they 
have been. The second appearance of the same Messiah is the sal- 
valion of the Jews ; and all will be restored unto them that hath been 
taken away, and great will be the day of peace. When Israel is 
restored, all the world will follow them, for first to the Jew and then 
to the Gentile will the great day of restitution appear; and these are 
the purposes of God's elect from the foundations of the world. 

Reform began in Abram, and succeeded through his generations 
till a Messiah was born, an evidence of the Prince of Peace, and the 
one universal Father of the whole inhabited earth. Reform has 
begun in Britain as in Abraham, and will spread through the whole 
earth. It is without a priest, but not without the Spirit of God, or 
his Son Jesus Christ. Truth, justice, and mercy is in it; these are 
principles of peace, and will descend to the whole world. Britain 
is restoring the poor to their right, and pleading for a free circulation 
of just principles, and the preaching of the Gospel on the principles 



ADDRESS TO ENGLAND, ETC. 281 

e 

it began in Israel and in Judah. They complain of the lords with 
the prophet; they boast in the just victories of David, and, as Israel, 
they are inspired with renewed love to their king. The fire will 
never cease till the hay, wood, and stubble is consumed, the silver 
separated from the dross, and the pure gold the interest of the nation, 
that is, the salvation of souls ; the baptism of Christ is in the mind, 
it operates as fire amongst the chaff, as the furnace to the dross, so 
is the throne of Britain refining for the good of the whole Christian 
world. They will be able to set Israel on his throne, and the Jews 
will return unto them good and great deeds for their mercies. 



December 7th, 1834. 

I address England and Ireland with my best love ; I love the peo- 
ple and the king. These islands are as two sisters to my soul ; and 
though they are possessed of many beloveds, who can speak with 
them in finer language than I am possessed of, yet from the overflow 
of the mind, or the abundance of the heart, I have undertaken to do 
a little. They are like kindred I never saw, yet they are the home 
inheritance of my king, the land of my progenitors, the objects of 
my love. In all the Christian world no islands unto me are beloved 
like these. I am neither courting favours nor casting frowns, from 
the throne downwards to the least subjects of our earthly lord the king. 
I am speaking with these in the fear of the Lord about the things 
of God and the deeply affecting deeds of sin. Ireland will be quick 
in apprehension and zealous of good works ; England will be exten- 
sive in power as the diadem of the Christian world, till the Messiah 
reigns, in whom all nations are alike. She has been the island of 
deep sorrows ; she will be the mother of joys, and foreign princes 
will draw wisdom from her breast. Her present shepherds are lost 
from the fold ; for under their administration of law and gospel, the 
souls of her children are not at rest. England will be tried as gold 
in the furnace ; there will be a perpetual turning and turning again, 
till the gold is clear, and peace is found on Britain's shore. There 
will be a change of princes, a refining of laws, a building up and 
pulling down, till the mind of England is still as the quiet waters at 
God's command. 

The House of Commons and the King is my hope in earthly 
things; but the speculative powers of Britain will pass away. Woe 
to that man that maketh the law of sinners a wealth to his mind. 



282 A FRIEND TO BRITAIN. 

These are deeds that are not done by the master builder, and the 
hand of the Deity is rising against these that make the sinner's bread 
a golden store. How many thousand have made themselves rich in 
England by administering laws to the poor? More than can be 
measured in a span, or counted in an age. Why should I 3peak 
from the wilderness, when present help is at hand at the doors and 
gates of England? The wilderness hath its blessing, the cultivated 
lands and the sea, all show forth their maker's hand, and all his deeds 
do give him praise. 

I may have some peculiar ideas, and some small part of the mind 
to improve in Britain ; and who will excuse me from the work ? The 
Lord maketh not his servant to be idle, nor sleep in the time of day, 
lest the nobility should ride over him while he is asleep. The great, 
the noble and the wise, have tried their talents, the seminaries have 
afforded their best means, and yet there is no peace below the sun. 
Think it not strange that other labourers are called into the vineyard 
of the Lord. The day is coming, and now is, when there will be no 
sales of the Gospel ; and administering men will observe the same 
rule, and the nation will be at peace. When the peace of the people 
becomes the interest of the nation, then will the inhabitants be at 
peace, and every subject embrace his government with love. 

Behold the Lamb of God that taketh away the sins of the world ! 
Nothing is more needful for the nobility of England than this direc- 
tion ; for in him we see all things we need. That which is not of 
God will pass away ; this world will have an end. The world passeth 
away and the lusts thereof, but he that doeth the will of God abideth 
forever. 

To the lords and crown of England I write this simple address, 
from my best respects to them. As no station is clear of sin, nono 
should be above doctrine. I have not undertaken to address the 
throne of England as a particular object, but the ruling and govern- 
ing men in Britain's laws. There is but one bread that satisfieth the 
soul, the true comfort of life ; there is but one living spring that sat- 
isfieth every mind under the sun. How much happier would our king 
be, if his administration and constitutional forms were well pleasing 
to all his subjects on Britain's shore and the distant islands of the 
sea. This is impossible ; the sinner cannot be satisfied. There was 
a shepherd and prince Christ Jesus, and he sent out an army of se- 
venty warriors at one time against sin and satan, and no fee was col- 
lected for preaching the Gospel, but yet they returned with joy to 
their Lord. That which has been is possible : the Lord had twelve 
servants, and he took their goods and gave them to the poor, and they 
loved their prince unto death, and were faithful servants of the Lord. 
Moses was one of the best legislators in the world, and never ap- 
pointed a fee to himself. He said the Son of God should be like 



ADDRESS TO ENGLAND, ETC. 285 

him, not an expensive legislator. By the one came law, and the 
other gospel ; but both these were the administrations of good will 
to the world. Behold the Lamb of God ! is the direction. Should 
he not be more than gold in our eyes, and his love more than the 
spoil of nations? for the whole earth is at his command — the sea and 
the storm — the crown and the subject. He took the poor from the 
net, and enlightened the mind. He did not leave them inferior to 
any thing in life ; he called them from the borders of the sea ; he 
sent them out to preach the Gospel to all nations, to the prince as 
well as the people. One bread satisfieth the mind. He hath not 
refused to be lord of all ; he careth for his people. Hath he reserved 
the best bread or Gospel for those in high estate? or are his gifts not 
equal to all that will receive? We are under no obligations to be 
learned in letters to receive the Son of God. He has proved his 
mission on the weak, or those that were low in education ; and it 
was effectual to the mind : as the leaven hid in the meal, it leavened 
the whole heart, and the remains of the love of the world was not in 
them. The world passeth away and the lusts thereof, but he that 
doeth the will of God abideth forever. 

I cannot change what is written or communicated to us from the 
sacred writings. The world must pass away, and the love of it, but 
he that doeth the will of God shall abide. The memory of Christ 
and Moses is forever, but that which is of the world or the lusts of 
it passeth away. 

How many hired servants are there of the Lord my king that hath 
bread and to spare, while others perish with hunger? Almost all the 
servants of our king are hired servants, and the poorer classes sup- 
p!y their wages ; one church is tributary to another ; and almost 
every man is a servant of his lord, and he that is the priest liveth 
on the spoils of the people. England is scourging for her good, and 
the revolt against the clergy is for peace on earth. The servant 
has become as his master, and the disciple as his Lord : the com- 
monality of England know as much as the priest, and are crying 
for justice in the world, — the reign of that good prince, that maketh 
the tribute light to his people, and sendeth a free gospel to the world. 
Every priest should live on alms given because of love; and until 
that day cometh, they will be a public nuisance on earth. The hand 
of the peasantry is moving them out of the way ; they plead for bonds 
and do not set their subjects free. If the churches are free, why 
are they under tribute to the Apostles ? Such a thing never was in 
Israel, neither will it remain, it is of the world and the lusts thereof, 
and will pass away. Christ paid tribute to Ceasar, he was not a 
priest, but a prince, to whom Israel was in bonds, and he fared with 
his brethren. Behold the Lamb of God, he is that bread that satis- 
fieth the mind, and maketh peace on earth ; he comforts the poor 



284 A FRIEND TO BRITAIN. 

and he maketh the rich happy by dividing the spoil. Will he not do 
as he hath done? Or look we for another? Tis he of whom the 
Prophet spoke, that did this. We learn his disposition from his 
deeds : his deeds were loving, merciful and kind, and so his heart 
must be. He that hath the mind of Jesus but in a small degree, will 
accordingly bear witness of his soul, but our nobility bear the image 
and superscription of Caesar, they take more from the poor than 
they give, and the poor disciple of Jesus Christ had to go a fishing to 
get the money, and many of our poor are doing likewise. It is not a 
light thing to bear with a heavy hand on the poor, it is spoken against 
in the books of God's revealed will, and it is ever succeeded by a 
curse on earth. There is great generosity in England, but oppression 
far exceeds ; and there will be a suffering atonement for what is 
already done. When the poor began to cry, the gathering hand 
should have been withheld. The world passeth away and them that 
love it, but the will of God and him that doeth it, abideth forever. 
The blood of saints and martyrs that opposed this hostile and oppres- 
sive race, will arise fresh in remembrance, and what was designed 
by them that were godly hearted men, will yet be done in England ; 
and then will she shine like the diamond stone in righteousness. The 
sword of the Lord cannot be turned backward, nor the axe taken 
from the root of the tree ; that which beareth not good fruit will be 
hewn down, and cast into hell or the fire. Tithe gathering hath not 
borne good fruit in England, extortion in office, or high tributes to 
our king. With such things as these the Lord hath a controversy and 
he will perform his oath. He swore or revealed unto us by John the 
Baptizer that every principle that did not bear good works should be 
hewn down as with an axe and refined in the furnace of conviction till 
the chaff is seperated from the wheat and burned (recollect) with 
unquenchable fire. The dross shall be divided or be seperated from 
the gold and the good remain. If England is worthy of chastisement 
she is the object of God's love ; she hath been the place of beginning 
of much good; but like Israel of old, much evil hath arisen in her. 
Her lords are troubled, and the pillars of the earth tremble ; the little 
flock will obtain the kingdom, and with a thousand blessings crown 
their king. England has not to flee to republicanism to make herself 
happy, she has wisdom on her own shores, and it will shine to the 
western world when republicanism will tremble like a leaf. Christ 
is appointed of God to be a prince and shepherd in Israel, the just 
principles of his soul, may appear in the mind of a thousand kings. 
while he reigns on the throne of Judah in the heart or mind of his 
father David, from whence by birth he personally did arise. And if 
you should say that thrones and kingdoms shall have an end, and go 
after the kings and kingdom of Israel, I will venture to say they will 
rise again, for it is the appointed reign of the Messiah, to set upon a 



ADDRESS TO ENGLAND, ETC. 285 

throne ; that which hath been blessed will be blest again, neither can 
it pass away forever, for he that doeth the will of God is established 
here below, is there not a peculiar service for a king, as well as the 
subject ? and till all is fulfilled it will not be well with us. Who 
would lift a band against a throne, administering mercy to the poor, 
and justice to the whole world? Improving the mind of the weak, 
and leaving the widow's tribute in her own hands? None ; but O 
England it has not been'so with thee ; thy fishermen were not improv- 
ed with the nobility, but had to go and fish tribute for Ceasar and his 
household, and their mental abilties were as so many talents buried 
in the earth ; with little or no improvement, they died as they were 
born into the world. Was the Son of God in your courts ordering 
this 1 No, the British government and gospel hath not been of small 
costs to the subjects; and discontent to your own shores. Behold 
the lamb of God that taketh away the sins of the world, without 
money or price, and administering to his own all they need without a 
standing tribute of his people. It is time to turn the scale, and though 
men would not, the Lord will, and bring past ages to remembrance, 
ever since the gathering hand was reached to the poor. The Lord 
is in the rumours of the earth ; and although his voice is small and 
still, his name will be heard in the day of events, and until that day 
his breath will trouble the mind as the tempest doth the seas ; but 
when he speaketh " peace be still," we shall know that his hand hath 
been in all his works ; and from the least to the greatest shall they 
all know the Lord, for the poor are objects of his love. It is not a 
day of rest to the shepherds of this world. The Lord is moving as on 
deep waters, and who knoweth what will be the proceeds of the mind, 
till the sun of righteousness arises and lights the earth ; then will he 
not shine on the poor as well as on the rich, the simple as the wise, and 
reveal his will to the babe and suckling, and from the humble mind or- 
dain his praise ? His wrath is not finished — he is not received, nor his 
end accomplished, neither hath he passed away, till he maketh this 
world his abiding place. He will rule over us with a scourge in Israel, 
the rich and the poor shall feel the stripes thereof, the great and the 
small ; and in that day he will not pass by the pulpit of the priest, 
nor the throne of the king. There is no hiding from his presence — 
it is not in the power of the hills to hide us from his sight, and as 
ancient Israel is naked before the Lord, and without a cover for 
their sins r so shall all the nations of the earth be. 



Sing my soul and praise his name, 
He 's in the earth the sea and skies ; 

We 're falling to exalt his reign, 
And as we bow the Lord doth rise. 



286 A FRIEND TO BRITAIN. 

He 's come, to trouble and distress, 
From the least subject to the throne ; 

He 's come to scourge, and then to bless, 
He 's come to make the worlds his own. 

Monarchs shall tremble and shall fear, 
And princes bow in worlds below ; 

Thus our redemption draweth near, 
My troubled soul doth tell me so. 

Exalted thoughts doth rise in vain, 
And thrones are but a bubble here; 

Their pillars tremble in his name, 

That makes my soul to dread and fear. 

How can my soul his anger shun, 

That 's spread his hand so far abroad ? 

Sure tokens tell me he will come, 
And be Emmanuel our God. 

The knee shall bow, the tongue confess 
That we, as sheep, have gone astray ; 

Like children in the wildnerness 

For the good shepherd cry this day ! 



December 12th, 1834. 

Britain may hope in the salvation of God ; but be assured of deep 
and affecting baptism as we are that God is in heaven. The moun- 
tains will be brought low, and the valleys be filled up ; the rough 
way smooth, and the crooked way straight, and all her sons and 
daughters shall see the salvation of God. There are too many 
extremes in Britain for a day of peace ; equality is the pillar 
of peace and many ten thousands will build thereon. I need 
not say that God careth for the poor as for the rich ; the com. 
ing of the Messiah hath proved this to the full. He also cared for 
poor sinners with such love that he imparted unto them bread 
from heaven ; and they are heirs of the mercy of God, both in 
spiritual and temporal things. The Son of God is Lord of the 
universe, imparted the rich man's bread by command, and gave it 
to the poor. He commanded his Apostles in a peculiar manner to 
do this : not that they might only comfort the poor of their age, but 
preach their Saviour's command to al! the ends of the world, and 



BRITAIN MAY HOPE IN THE SALVATION OF GOD. 287 

be themselves an example to every gospel minister that should live 
after them. It is by command God saveth the world from sin ; at 
his command the sun arose, and the stars of heaven gave us light. 
The Son of God hath said, his ministers were as a city set on a hill, 
that could not be hid, the light of the world and salt of the earth, 
adding, if the salt hath lost its savor it is henceforth good for nothing. 
When our ministers have lost these saving virtues, they are only fitted 
for the earth, rather than salvation to the people of God ; these were 
exalted as the mountains in England, and all the little hills and 
valleys were tributaries to their high estate. They have preached 
written gospels to our King, but not salvation to his people. The 
mind of England is a troubled sea, and long will her thoughts like 
billows roll, before the Lord will say, " peace be still," and a general 
calm appear. England is not blessed with contentment under her 
present administration ; who was at the helm of government ? the 
Bishop, where he ought not to be ; but preaching the gospel to 
the poor, going from house to house crying unto the rich in the 
name of Jesus to give unto them. They have went from house to 
house indeed gathering from the poor and giving to the rich ; this 
practice must abate ,■ these mountains must come down, if not so, 
we may bind a millstone to our faith, and cast it into the midst of the 
sea. John the baptiser preached unto the people a division of the 
garments and the meat, and cautioned the tribute gatherers not to 
take more than their due, and the soldiers to be content with small 
wages, for all they needed was added unto them, and [to be careful 
to do violence to no man. Query — if the Bishop had divided his 
income with the poor till he possessed no more than they — would he 
not have expressed in his example the law of God, " love thy neigh- 
bour as thyself?" If the tribute gatherers for the priest, or the priest 
himself, had taken no more from their brethren than the Son of God, 
their professed Lord and Master, had commanded them — would not 
their tribute have been light, and the commonality of England 
seen the laws of the Lord written on the minds of their priests, and 
printed in their inward parts, and the priest acting from New Testa- 
ment laws as though the Saviour was in the soul ? But from the 
soldier to the priest, those that live on tribute love the wages that 
England doth afford ; and many a soldier has enlisted for the spoil 
of his brethren ! there hath gone the General, and all under him, 
that he might make plunder of his country's fees. Here the moun- 
tain is above the valley, one must have thousands while others must 
live on a groat. So in the civil powers of England- -so in the priest's 
office, the place of the gospel, the direction of all ; and the driest 
loves his fee as well as the General, and is less deserving. " The 
General serves at the expense of his life, and all his servants under 
him ; if any are deserving of high fees it are these ; but extortion 



288 



A FRIEND TO BRITAIN. 



may be found in almost every office in the British Empire. The 
priest clothes himself with soft clothing, and reads the traditions of 
hie fathers, with small, borrowed additions of the same kind, and is 
exposed to nothing but the temptations of extortion, and that seem- 
ingly has become the law of his mind. He reaps where he hath not 
sown, gathers in property where he has spread no gospel. 

My plain way of speaking is offensive to a polished mind, but I am 
possessed of but few words, and I have to use them for every purpose, 
to convey the sentiments of my mind to the world. I am not hired, 
neither have I earthly lords to offend. I love the order of a monarhial 
government, it is designed to the Son of God, and the throne of 
David for him to sit upon ; he is a prince of mercy, and I trust he 
will arise from small things and ascend to the heart of our king, and 
that his judgment and justice will be seen to all, descending from 
our king and Britain's throne to all the world. To promote this 
reign, as a lover of my king, I extend my best means to the least 
subject in the British Empire. 

A revolt against government would be the destruction of the land, 
and attended with a double cursing from heaven ; an improvement 
oi" the government will save the nation from sin, our brother's soul 
alive, and his blood from the ground. Ye that are sitting in the place 
of stars of light to the British nation, and you that preach gospels to 
all the ruling subjects of our king, consider that all souls are the 
Lord's, and he doeth with them as he will : he setteth up'one, and 
casteth another down ; he abaseth the mountain and filleth up the 
valley, and who can stay his hand ? Hearken to the cries of the 
poor, the Lord hath made them poor indeed, he hath prepared them 
to cry for bread in a plentiful land. The Lord has a controversy 
with sin in all people, and the New Testament is his revealed will, 
and must therefore be our law. The Son of God said, follow him, 
and so we believe. The poor in England hath been of bad economy, 
and caused want, but it hath not been so with all that cry : who is 
he that withholds bread from the poor in a needful time? Whoso- 
ever they may be, their heart is harder than Pharoah's, and the 
stewards of the treasure by far worse than Joseph. In such a case 
what is the poor profited by the coming of the Son of God? I do 
not think in this age of the world that Christians give more to the 
poor than was given under the law, and that did not satisfy the Lord, 
for he sent his Son to preach salvation to the poor in temporal and 
spiritual things. If a man has two coats, and gives one to his naked 
brother, the two extremes have met— -the mountain and the valley 
has become equal ; and he that hath most, said John, " let him do 
likewise," loving our neighbours as ourselves, equalizes the world ; 
and this is the prince that is wanting in England. A n d he that 
preached this doctrine is the prince of peace, and before his coming 



BRITAIN MAY HOPE IN THE SALVATION OF GOD. 289 

in spirit to dwell on earth, the hand of" John" will be reached forth 
to the nations full of good tidings, saying, do justice with earthly- 
things ye that are stewards of them; for it is well pleasing to the 
Lord. His eye is upon small things in earthly matters, and he careth 
for the poor, he hath prepared them to cry, and he will hear their? 
and visit a revenge according to their deeds upon the enemy of their 
just rights. Priests and prophets were ever sent to plead their cause, 
and gather for them ! Bnt now our gospel priest (as he would be 
called) stands in the gate as a sentry keeping them from their just 
rights by the law of his lips. Here is a cause for baptism ; there 
will be a restoring of that which is taken away, and a law to set the 
poor free from Church tribute, as the Lord hath commanded, and the 
priest shall go out to meet them and divide his bread and clothing 
with those that are in want : then can the tender hearted bishop say, 
follow me my prince ! and my king ! and every double-coated man, 
and of extortionate tribute in the whole British empire ; then will the 
Prince of peace, ascend to the throne, and make a quiet home on Bri- 
tain's Isles. Oh ye mountains of this world, how hard it will be for you 
to come down and dwell with these you have made your footstool ! 
It is not the priest, but the poor that has supported the great Church 
of England ; she will come down and sit with her sisters, and her 
shepherds in the dust — they have sheared the flocks, and clothed 
their little ones with the spoil, but have not preached the gospel to 
the poor, for this is glad tidings of great joy, salvation to them that 
are in want. 

Now, my good friends, the mountains and little hills, the more 
they afflicted them, the more they multiplied and grew ; the more 
you oppress the poor and lower orders of the people, the stronger 
they grow against you, and the more enemies you make ; the more 
you make the stronger is the army you have to conquer to retain the 
hills and mountains above the vales that are below. The mountains 
shall be brought down and the vales shall rise ; that is, meeting 
together as brethren ; and the sooner it is done the better, and more 
glorious for Britain's name, for that which is ordained will come to 
pass. Britain doth not ask a new government, nor to borrow abroad, 
but improvement at home ; the prayer is just, and in earthly things 
will satisfy the mind. Let reason take place. With our judgment 
we must measure according to our understanding, we must be- 
lieve in the gospel, or otherwise practise infidelity. It is the gos- 
pel, accompanied with present events, that inspires us to believe 
there will be a change ; and to accomplish our hope, we rise and 
labor — stoop down to remove these stones out of the way, which are 
the cause of stumbling to our feet. We expect no salvation without 
service, and from the principles of equity, truth, and justice, invite 
the priests to come over on our side, and plead the cause and preach 



290 



A FRIEND TO BRITAIN. 



the good tidings of salvation to the poor. The poor are rising and 
the mountains wiil do well to bend, or be assured they will beaver- 
thrown, not by revolt, but by the power of reason, the principles of 
truth and justice — the issues of an understanding mind. If things 
uiust remain as they are, the tenets of the gospel must be shut out 
from Britain, without which no nation can be happy. We have the 
form in some measure, but not the practice. I am not writing against 
the doctrine of the churches, but the inconsistent practice of life, 
with the revealed will of God, or gospel of Jesus Christ. 

Crucifying has not only been done in England in a Redeemer's 
name, but the goods of the poor have been taken and given to the 
rich, till the clergy in this age have as many enemies as they can 
stand against. If they are not able with ten thousand to stand against 
twenty, they had better send to the common people ambassadors of 
peace, and stand against reform no more ; I add my witness, they 
will be overcome at last, for the flocks are as wise as their shepherds, 
and have become inspired judges of right and wrong, and the poor, 
according to the gospel, are demanding of the clergy their right, and 
all that rule above them in church and state affairs. No more shall 
Britain impose upon her subjects. The laity seeth with the eyes of 
the Clergy, and statesmen have become as wise as they ; and because 
of the omission of the Clergy have arisen to plead the causes of the 
poor, and restore unto Britain her right, which long before this day 
should have been a free nation from tithes and excessive tributes. 
She is an old sister in the Christian world, so are her islands. Why 
are they captives or in bonds to a tribe of hireling priests? Have 
the Levites found the way to her shores? No, but a singular dispo- 
sition for which there is neither law nor gospel, hath long filled the 
pulpit in England : as is the father so hath been the son for ages past, 
and little or no improvement there. But government is falling into 
the hands of the people and their king, and they will make peace 
together. The valleys are rising and the mountains ; the king will 
go out with love to embrace his people ; he will clothe the poor and 
put shoes on their feet ; they shall perform the service of the Lord, 
and jewels or rings of the king's love shall be seen upon their hands. 

The commons in England have arisen to fulfil the priest's office, 
and they will prevail ; for truth, mercy, and judgment will be with 
them till all is done, and the throne of our king is established in 
peace. Then will the Lord say " peace be still," and there will be 
a calm, and all Britain's subjects in earthly things will be satisfied. 

'Tis hope inspires my soul to sing, 
To love my God, and bless my king; 
In these alone my soul doth trust, 
That all my kindred shall be blest. 



BRITAIN MAY HOPE IN THE SALVATION OF GOD. 291 

'Tis but the evening of the day, 
When setting suns doth pass away, 
And glimmering stars of light arise, 
To light the mind and bless the skies. 

It's near the dawning of the day, 
When these will come that went away; 
The spirit of the martyr slain, 
Will rise on Britain's shores again. 

The glim'ring lamp they will renew, 
They '11 legislate and precept too ; 
But few hath been such suns as these, 
(England destroyed their bearing trees.) 

The trumpet calls them from the tomb, 
Their spirit cannot rise too soon ; 
Oh God of heaven ! no delay, 
Return those souls that 's past away. 

The soul of Britain for them groans, 
'Tis for their blood our grief atones ; 
Oh had they never passed away, 
We 'd shunned the sorrows of this day. 

Oh could I reach the Bishop's ear, 
Or cause the Clergy all to hear; 
From my poor soul I would express, 
The way that sorrows may be less. 

Take up, 1 pray, the orphan's cause, 
Remind the poor when making laws, 
And count from whence your tribute comes, 
That should be stars, and should be suns. 

Oh Clergy if your virtue 's lost, 
The ship without the helm 's tost ; 
The sheep are bleating far astray, 
As flocks without a guide this day. 

A shepherd when the savor 's lost, 
Is like to nothing for great cost; 
A scattered flock and trembling throne, 
So is the land of Britain known. 

The Lord's preparing to repair, 
He 's heard their cries and Britain's prayer ; 
And prince and subjects will arise, 
To meet their shepherd from the skies. 
t2 



292 A FRIEND TO BRITAIN. 

December 18th, 1834. 
THE EVIDENCES OF TRUTH AND ERROR. 

I love the inhabitants of the Isles, and pour out my spirit in this 
way, for the salvation of the soul. Men hath not given me abilities 
to address the ancient Islands, England and Ireland. They are as 
the pillars of wisdom, and the most popular part of the earth. But 
I have an impression of the mind to do these things in my low style 
of writing, and if it is not accepted of the more learned part of the 
world, it may be as a blessing from the Lord to the poor, and comfort 
some thirsting mind. I am not taught by the mind of the Deity, 
from which I trust I draw these few broken sentences, to fear an 
image of clay ; they are perishable like mine own, and must soon 
go down to the dust. The child is as innocent in his alphabet, as 
the most advanced scholar in life, and possessed of less craft and 
policy in his mind : he is not exalted by his education, nor able to 
deceive the more ignorant part of the world with polished mantles. 
He is unprepared for tribute and knovveth not that he is above his 
fellow men; he is ready to receive by every means, and increase 
the abilities of his mind. I am willing to give and receive again, for 
gifts are the tokens of love between sisters and brethren. If the 
nobility of the Isles should give me a few stripes by the way of hand 
writing it will not be extremely offensive, or grievious to my soul. 
If I am thought to reach too high with my blunt pen, I trust I shall 
not exceed the bounds of sin in the human mind. The whole crea- 
tion hath a right to the Deity, and he is not bounded or limited in the 
revelations of his will ; he also hath a right to great and small, to 
direct their purposes as he will, and who can dispute the title of our 
God ? The priest has been at the helm of Government — the shep- 
herd of the British nation, and as Lord in the church; these have 
been the chosen and qualified souls in Britain. As they are but clay, 
why may not the lower orders of the people, the peasantry speak 
with them about the Deity, and salvation of the mind? We are all 
created to be the servants of God, but not to remain in bonds or sub- 
jection one to another. We have read, it is the principles of the 
gospel, to " set the captives free," that one God may rule and 
govern all that hath the alone undoubted right to the souls and 
persons of men. Though we are not skilled in the dead languages, 
and can speak but a few sentences in the English tongue ; yet God 
has given to every rational being a book of reason in his mind, some 
more, some less, as necessity may require. The Lord calleth on 
his servants to know if they have read the book and fulfilled the pages 



THE EVIDENCES OF TRUTH AND ERROR. 293 

of it, for our judgments and mercies are written in the mind, and 
there we meet the eternal Judge of quick and dead. The earth is 
the Lord's and all it contains, and he hath power over it to such a 
degree, that there is no contending with the Deity in the tempest, 
neither can the prince of nations cause the herb to grow — stay the 
rage of famine, pestilence or disease. In all these we see the supe- 
rior hand. Heaven is the Lord's, and all that there abounds ; and 
from thence he governs the world as he will. The happiest station 
that ever man was in, was lost, the Eden or paradise of the mind. 
The man was made steward of it, but he inclined to take too much to 
himself, he took his own part, and also what the Lord had reserved 
for his own. The most happy Isles in Britain cannot exceed this ; 
the highest offices are not so high as our father Adam, for he was 
made heir of the whole earth, and Lord in paradise to do as he 
would. He makes me think of the British Clergy, they take what 
Ihey will, and give to whom they will, and on conditions, they crown 
themselves a king. The crown of England is theirs to give, and the 
people have no voice in the matter ; but all their mental faculties 
must bow to the priest, and the Crown, — their persons must serve 
also, and the priest will divide the spoil. So much for information, 
to preach the revealed gospel to the crown of England and his sub- 
jects, which the Son of God and his Apostles gave for nothing, save 
they were to obey the word of God. The Lord chose his own 
servants in that day, and appointed in soul and body to all the purpo- 
ses he would. Hereby we learn the independent mind of the Deity 
and his government over the mind. I never have said that I was his 
disciple, but that I possess a small share of reason, which I esteem 
as his gift to the mind I will not deny, it is the book of my education 
and from this small volume I have to draw all the lines of my life. 
When I pour out my spirit upon the earth, the heads of England will 
see my soul naked before their eyes, save clothed with such a cover- 
ing as I am writing this day. I will not withhold that which I think 
is given, nor leave my master's will undone. A man has to answer 
to his own soul, and if his deeds are not equal to his mind, then a man 
is not reconciled to his own works. If I had never heard of a Saviour, 
reason teaches me to know that the mind is the mediator between 
God and man. God is greater than the mind, but our measures are 
there, and it is required of great and small to fulfil them. The shep. 
herd is accountable for the flock ; and they that govern for the sub- 
jects ; and the rulers of Britain have much committed to their trust 
in earthly things ; they also have had good ministers from the Lord, as 
stars of morning light. These they have slain in abundance. What 
would have been their proceeds we cannot tell, but, like John the 
Baptist, they were cut off in early life before it was known what 
fruit the tree would bear, and others took dominion and government 
t 3 



294 A FRIEND TO BRITAIN. 

from their hands, and it is strongly impressed on my mind to call to 
remembrance in England the many martyrs that have been slain on 
that island ; and though it hath been done ages past, the Lord re- 
quires an atonement for their blood. They were slain like John, to 
promote the earthly joys of some priest or king, that thought them- 
selves more worthy than their bleeding brethren. Their blood, as 
a cloud, hangs over the superiors of England till this day. Now the 
high stations have found a match ; reformers have arisen in too great 
numbers to burn, and I believe will one day effect that work from 
the ashes of the dead which the liberty of the Gospel would have 
done by these martyrs ages ago, and England this day would have 
been a more happy land. 

There is no turning the will or mind of the Deity backward, and 

then promote our own in the stead of it. But a man may defer his own 

salvation ; and so has England obstructed her appointed or ordained 

blessings, which, through the purchase of deep sorrows and long 

tribulations, will come to pass. I wish from my soul that the nobility 

of England and Ireland would make use of the written gospel for the 

rules of life ; and I believe if the priest would step in first, the flocks 

would follow, as Israel passed through Jordan. That priest that is 

not just in earthly things is not worth hearing. Who is he that 

thirsteth for his brother's blood, and names a Saviour's name ? He 

is the brother of him that reaps his brother's soil, and gathers tribute 

for his own. How hard is his heart, how unfeeling is his mind. He 

hath taken his neighbour's bread and turned it into wine, and the 

garments of his children to clothe his own with the silks and satins 

of the earth. He has turned the sweat of his brother into the coach 

and splendour ; it is drawn by the toils of the poor over the banks of 

England. This is a day to be rewarded on Britain's isles ; this proud 

and abusive and unjust spirit will feel the effects of it. Oppression 

has become the education of England, and sons and daughters are 

sent to school to learn these heart-felt affecting lessons, viz : how to 

oppress. Do you believe the martyrs gave up their lives and stained 

England with their blood to effect such a purpose as this ? I am as 

free to think as the king on the throne, or the bishop with ill-got gain, 

but no power to practise, because no servant is committed to my 

trust. But I am a servant, and must fulfil. I am indebted to both 

God and man ; I must serve my king and fear the Lord. Mine eyes 

have been fixed on my earthly sovereign, and I have beheld no such 

spots on his garments as the priest's name written in italics there. 

Reformers will wash the garments of our king, till they are white as 

snow. If he will lend an ear to their cries, his throne will increase, 

and love to him be multiplied, and the pillars thereof be established 

forever. One God is Judge of all. The tender parent will hear the 

least cries of his household, and stoop down to quiet the supplications 



THE EVIDENCES OF TRUTH AND ERROR. 296 

of his youngest child. The last means are the best, my sovereign, 
the elder shall serve the younger, lift not thine hand against improve- 
ment in thy land, is the most sincere desire of my soul ; lest in 
reaching forth thy hand, it be stained with blood when it is withdrawn 
to thy breast, and the blood of the king's subjects be visited upon the 
king's mind in his latter days. I am far off, but would my prayers 
would reach the heart of my sovereign, because of love. A distant 
inhabitant of the wilderness may pray for the king with as much sin- 
cerity and effect as those at the foot of his throne. There has been 
blood enough shed in England for reform. Let reason and justice 
take place and the sword be still; that which is gained by the sword 
is frequently lost again. We cannot establish peace by persecution, 
nor gain a blessing from our brother's blood : I mean that for which 
we sell our brother's blood cannot be a heart-felt blessing to the 
mind. 

I have not made discontent on the shores of England ; but it is so, 
and the clergy are at the helm of bad government. Their means 
will be hewn down, and cast into the fire, there is no doubt of it ; 
because the effect of the present means is not peace to the subjects 
of our gracious king. 



I find my harp in tune, 
My heart prepared to sing, 
For hope fills up my beating breast, 
With blessings to my king. 

Why should our friends impose, 
That are but earth and dust? 
Why should our priests become our foes, 
The poor withdraw their trust? 

How mournful 't is to hear 
The little orphan cry, 
Where kings do reign and thrones appear, 
And Bishop's set so high ! ! 

Oh lend an ear, I pray, 
Although my means are small ; 
They 'd take the king's reproach away, 
And comfort one and all. 

Bright reason is my guide, 
Strict justice is my scale ; 
Where such as these are not denied, 
A blessing will prevail. 



296 A FRIEND TO BRITAIN. 

A powerless worm of clay, 
In a dark shaded land, 
The winter's forest round this day, 
I 'm writing to England. 

Sands of the sea are small, 
God gave them shape and size, 
And God above hath numbered all, 
By whom the mountains rise. 

A blessing may attend, 
For God hath blessed these, 
For he gave them the great command, 
By sands he bounds the seas. 

He equals great and small, 
He bids the seas be still, 
And there is but one God of all, 
And we must do his will. 



December 24th, 1834. 
THE PRINCIPLES OF LIFE. 

The heart is the table of the Lord, the book of life, because it is 
forever, the library of principles, the book of wisdom, the daily ser- 
vant of the Lord. From the mind proceed good and ill. There 
is no human evil but originates in the mind ; from the mind proceed, 
eth government, and it is the public mind endowed with power that 
rules the isles of Britain. The mind will admit of improvement. 
The Lord blotteth out and writes again, and this is the original order 
of all improvement that hath ever been made in the world. Man 
invents, God destroys ; we partake and he taketh away. Like rob- 
bers we steal and come to judgment, so we and our fathers come to 
judgment for deeds that should have been left undone. Sin doth not go 
unpunished ; all evil is brought to light sooner or later in life. The 
deeds of the father are punished in the son, or the Son of God hath 
not suffered for past sins. If a bad practice exist to generations yet 
to come, the spirit thereof will come to judgment, and the mind within 
suffer for these sins. The sooner we know the will of God and do 
it, the sooner the mind enters into rest. I am writing to my friends : 
all that believe with me are brethren, and all that receive with me 






THE PRINCIPLES OF LIFE. 297 

are at hand ; although the body I cannot see, their spirit is as mine, 
and we are one. I would not write these letters could I see them 
face to face. It is given me to believe I have a few friends on the 
isles of Britain, whose numbers I cannot know. I am far from de- 
signing to offend my king, or to lay a block of stumbling in the way 
of his ministering or administering men in state or church discipline. 

There is no work done effectually without just principles in the 
mind. The house of Solomon was first erected in spirit, and then 
in practice. The intent of the house was good, but it was" in some 
measure made bad use of; and so I believe of the Church of Eng- 
land. Speculation has got within her walls, and church and state 
government is corrupted by it. In such a case the Son of God found 
a light scourging to be needful. He did not destroy the house, but 
removed the money changers, and upset their system. He did not 
find fault with the building, nor the purpose of it, a house of prayer 
dedicated to God ; but when it became a place of barter, and supply- 
ing the poor for money, he simply said, the people were thieves : they 
were robbing the poor of their right, and profaning the sacred name 
by so doing. Above and before all places in this lower world, the 
church should be a place of mercy and a mind of pity on the afflict- 
ed ; it is the most sinful place for barter that ever was invented. The 
Son of God was not so rash against merchandizing any where as in 
the church ; and whether small cords will do or the greater be need- 
ful I know not, but I fully believe the Deity is minded to scourge 
self-interest from the name of religion, and from thence through the 
extensive business of the state. 

I possess neither power nor interest by appointment from my so- 
vereign lord the king, and I am under no obligations to praise him 
or his governors for favours received. I am endowed with no fear 
that interest will be taken away ; I can only point towards the evil 
and acknowledge the good — die and be seen no more. It hath fell 
to my lot by adoption to be a subject to the British throne, and to 
Britain I owe my best means of reformation. If I speak from prin- 
ciple, it is worthy of notice, — if I serve without interest, my deeds 
are the proceeds of love to the British subjects of my king. I am 
an inhabitant of the wood and a cultivator of the soil. I eat honest 
bread, and covet nothing above my station, I have a mind> and that 
is my chief interest, it is that alone that will live forever; this is the 
time of good things to them that receive them. It is the mind that 
the Son of God came to purify with baptisms ; it is in the mind the 
Lord first builds his house, as in the heart of David, and then show- 
eth the building to the world. The mind is the house of God ; the 
table of the Lord is there, — thereon he engraves just principles of 
judgment, mercy, and truth. If the heart of the money changers 
had been clean, they would not have made merchandise of the house of 



298 A FRIEND TO BRITAIN. 

the Lord. When the inside is clean, the outside will be also. Till 
the mind of England is right, her subjects will not be at peace. The 
Lord hath a controversy with money changers in the church, and I 
most earnestly advise them to go out while the scourge is small. The 
Lord Jesus Christ will not leave them there. He came to baptize 
the mind ; but such deeds as these are no honour to the baptisms of 
the Son of God, neither will he leave them there. All that I can do 
can be no more than the evidences of the truth, but if errors, I have 
done these things to my own shame, and from the false conceptions 
of the mind. If the evidence and the substance proceed from one 
source, then these lines will be an honour to God that I believe gave 
them, whose words are forever true. The priest is the foremost man 
of the flock in England ; from the pulpit he is teaching the whole 
world. Then government must be the proceeds of the priest, both 
in church and state ; for his subjects govern the soil, command the 
sword, and the army is at his word. The king adheres to the priest, 
and the common subjects to the king; the proceeds of the church 
govern all the British isles. The priest hath not rebelled against 
the people for bad government, but the people against the pulpit — 
not the throne. Why is the scourge drawn on the priest's back? 
Because he is a money changer in the house of the Lord, and sells 
his offerings to the people. Sin will not go unpunished. How many 
ages these things had existed in the temple I do not know, but they 
were shamefully scourged out at last, that all church officers thereby 
might know the heinous sin of church barter, and the disposition of 
the Son of God with such a practice of life, — to let us know it is the 
greatest sin under heaven. These were the only kind of people the 
Son of God lashed with a scourge in the whole earth. From thence 
proceed the grossest evils in the British name : i. e. the love of 
money hath destroyed the peace of England, alienated subjects to 
our king, and disquieted the British throne ; and the priest is at the 
helm of these things in church barter, collecting his revenues from 
the poor for his offerings. His disciples are like himself, but less 
blameable. They have set too high a price on their abilities in every 
office in the British name, with but very few exceptions. These 
practices have run England in danger of a fall, and have disquieted 
the nation. Nevertheless I am glad in one thing, i. e. that the 
hearer sees beyond the practice of his priest. It is in vain to flee 
from the British constitution for a better, or from king to congress. 
The storm has arisen there that is not yet seen to abate. Self-inte- 
rest is of one effect every where, destroys the name of religion and 
the peace of the nation. Well might the wise Apostle say, "Money 
is the root of all evil." Scourge out the priests' practice from the 
house of the Lord, or, according to tradition, they will not move 
without a few cords, and the upsetting of their system. Give church 



TIIB PRINCIPLES OP LIFE. 299 

and state government into the hands of honest and just cultivators or 
mechanics, and we will have a peaceable world. There was more 
sense in one old shepherd in Israel than there is now in the whole 
British clergy, and the United States republic teachers added with 
them ; for Moses gave law both to the priest and the people : and 
there was more peace in Israel than in the clergys' reign in England. 
Behold the virtue of a shepherd ! The Lord wrote on his mind, and 
he administered to the people of temporal and spiritual administra- 
tion, and the Lord blessed his work. He took no tribute in the house 
of the Lord, neither was he ever scourged out of office for the love 
of self-interest. I would that God had written his name upon my 
mind, and it would be ever present with me, and then I would know 
on what principles I should serve my brethren, that my deeds might 
be blessed by the Giver of blessings, and my back never smart with 
his chastising scourge. Moses was a man ; he was not like one tree 
in a forest. His heart was as the library of the Most High God, and 
has exceeded all the old history there is now in England, for his mind 
was a present help to Israel in their needs ; but what do old books 
now for England ? By these we cannot abate the storm nor bid the 
seas be still. The mind of England is agitated with priests' mea- 
sures. These that should have been peace-makers, and beloved as 
the children of God, have introduced these practices that have dis- 
quieted the whole Christian world. England requires a new heart 
from the hand of God ; that mind that hath long made disturbance 
and dissatisfaction with tribute money will not make peace. Some 
small things will yet be raised up to do this; the proceeds of the 
college have failed in the attempt. A heart with small desires for 
oarthly things, and great with justice, abounding with love and peace 
for their brethren, will do this. I believe the mind of God is bent 
towards England, neither is he minded to cast her throne away. 
The throne of England is not at the root of evil, but her clergy and 
their proceeds have disquieted the world. They have lost their office. 
Babylon has fallen, and become "the habitation of every unclean 
bird." The Lord hath avenged the blood of his people at her hands. 
Sin shall not go unpunished ; the deeds of darkness shall be brought 
to light, with every spirit that is evil. Truth is rising — error is fall- 
ing, and great will be the fall of it. That which is not according 
to the word of God is on the sand ; and the Lord will try the house 
whether it be good or ill. I write to remind England of past days, 
how many have wept and groaned and died in England for reforma- 
tion. Their blood will be raised up and it will come to pass. 



300 A FRIEND TO BRITAIN. 

Behold the morning snn arise, 

And death's dark shade doth rend in twain; 
The night that's long obscured our eyes, 

No more shall over England reign. 

The pillars shake, the staff gives way, 
The Son of God the sceptre holds ; 

The star of light, the dawn of day, 
Is spreading over flocks and folds. 

The mind hath risen from her rest, 

Her load was more than souls could bear ; 

And she is with new garments dress'd, 
The hand of her Redeemer's there. 

Her little ones around her cry, 

With tax and tribute long oppress'd ; 

Their prayer has come to God most high, 
He 's promis'd, and they will be bless'd. 

Oh isles of Britain, happy shore, 

Your lusts and pride in haste subdue, 

And you will know no want no more, 
No islands will be blest like you. 

Britain is nam'd the seat of sense, 
And your best wisdom 's rising there ; 

Jehovah will be your defence, 

If you '11 rebuild the house of prayer. 

Put merchants from the pulpit's stand, 

Religious barter far away ; 
And God will bless your happy land, 

And learn your subjects how to pray. 

Speak peace around your happy king, 

With blessings crown him on the throne ; 

From thence he will good tidings bring, 
He '11 bless you and your house and home. 






t 301 ] 



January 24th, 1835. 

All who are great are not wise, neither are all things that are 
common right. Custom hath become an impressive law on the 
mind of princes and potentates, and the son walketh after the father, 
and many there be that mourn behind. The promise of the Lord is 
to those that weep ; and many times hath he delivered the cnptivity 
of Judah and of Israel. Sincere mourning is a well-formed prayer, 
and the Lord boweth his ear to hear them, and a Providential hand 
turns in favour of those that mourn. I address the European 
Islands from a low estate of mind, and in a language or form un- 
worthy the prince of nations to look upon. But the truth hath been 
found in low style ; rnd what has already been, again may be. The 
Lord requires that which is past. I write not for money nor favour, 
but from the impressions of the mind, that my heart may be clean 
before God, without which no soul can be at rest. I have not re- 
ceived the petition of my friends to do these things; but what 1 find 
in my mind, uninfluenced by friends or foes, I communicate to the 
world. 

My love to Britain I have expressed, but my mind is not full ; my 
soul yet receives, and I continue to reveal. Britain may be a star of 
light to the whole world if her princes and potentates will reform in 
those measures that cause the subjects of the throne to weep ; other- 
wise the throne of Britain will fall, and her inhabitants become to- 
tally destitute of the royal name. Britain is inclined to support a 
monarch with honour, but the back that feels the burden alone 
knoweth the weight of it. Kings and priests, I pray unto you this 
morning from the depths of my soul, make the burden of your sub- 
jects light, and save the crown of England : If not so, your crown 
will be cast into the dust as a load of oppression, and men never will 
raise their hands to crown a king again. O king, my father ! hastily 
unite with thy loyal subjects and those that wish grace, mercy, and 
peace to thy soul, and they will save thee from the spoil of nations : 
they will be a wall around thy throne that cannot be broken ; they 
will crown thee with love and bless thee with peace. Lift not the 
sword against thine own ; for, if thou doest so through the influence 
of those that are called great and yet are not wise, thou wilt pierce 
thine own body and die with the wound. Look down into the dust 
for things that are lost : thou mayest find the truth, a pearl of high 
price, near unto thy feet, — truth secreted in the bosom of meek, 
low-hearted, and humble-minded men. But, if thou wilt not hearken 
unto them that cry unto thee as a father for bread, and thou givest 
unto them a stone or scorpion, thou wilt cry when no one will hear, 



302 A FRIEND TO BRITAIN. 

neither will the Lord show thee pity from Heaven. Thou art a marl 
in great trust — as the staff of nations — the pillar of princes, com- 
manding great things. Hearken to thy subjects while they cry 
unto thee like children, and weep with tears at the feet of thy throne. 
How unjust is that scale which taketh from the poor and giveth to 
the rich, and to those that waste the bread of the poor in pomp and 
vanity ! The Lord is weighing Britain in a scale, and the balance 
will turn in favour of the poor ; for the Lord hath a controversy with 
the pride of nations. Bow down, my king, and incline thine ear to 
the mind of those that are thy footstool : These know the burden of 
thy throne, and that it is not light, while they see the deeds of their 
hands divided by thee, and thy councils so contrary to the will of 
God in Christ Jesus the Saviour of the world. But if thou wilt only 
advise with those that ride on the shoulders of men, whose backs 
feel not the burden, they will advise thy throne to ruin, and thy crown 
into the dust. Make a royal decree from thy throne, by and through 
the advice of thy humble-minded subjects, that the priest's hand 
shall be bound as with a cord, that he shall withhold his iron hand 
from his neighbour's bread. For, the bishops of England, by their 
decrees, are advising thy crown down into the dust. Write the laws 
of the Lord Christ Jesus upon thy sceptre, and sway them abroad to 
the nations of the world, and thy name shall live for ever and thy 
throne stand as the pillars of the earth. 

Then every tongue shall sing thy praise, 

And every ear attend to hear ; 
Peace and great glory crown thy days, 

And God will cast away thy fear. 

The tears shall cease, and smiles arise, 

And little children bless thy name ; 
Thou wilt be humble and be wise — 

A crown from God and man retain. 

Thy gardens round thy feet shall grow, 

Thy sword shall moulder and decay ; 
For nations round will love thee so, 

Thine hands may cast the sword away. 



[ 303 ] 



January 27th, 1835. 

THE SORROWS OF THE LORD. 

Mourn for England, all ye righteous ; and, ye souls of just 
men, make supplication for her name ! Her pride hath slain her 
thousands, and her crown hath been stained with the blood of saints j 
the just hath bled in her cause. The Lord hath bought England 
with a price, and she is indebted to Him for all His sorrows that 
He hath mourned for her. England, thou must repay the Lord foF 
all the spoil thou hast won, and all the blood thou hast cast into the 
sea ; and the blood of the field is crying unto God against thy name. 
Thou wast made thy brother's keeper, and thou hast ruled over him 
with the sword, and divided his bread with thy little ones. Thy bul- 
warks have been the bodies of men, and they have poured out their 
blood on the ground to support thy name and the honours of thy 
king. Thou art indebted to the Lord for all thy victories : he hatb 
made thee the pillar of nations, and he will build thereon and have 
a throne in Britain that will not decay, and a king showing mercy 
to his people. The king shall receive strength from those in low 
estate, and those that have been his servants will become his lords 
and rule over him— and advise their king, and he shall live, and 
they will uphold his throne in their hands. The king will do well 
to lend an ear to the day of small things, for England is turning in 
the balance, and as she hath been, she will not be any more. Her 
crumbs will be divided with the poor, her orphans cease to cry, and 
her widows forget to mourn ; for there is a day of great blessing 
prepared for England and for Israel. England will change her 
garments as a maiden ; she is washing by the water course, and 
will become altogether clean. The Lord will place his feet on 
England, and teach many nations by her decrees. He will give 
wisdom to the heart of her king, and he will spread his hands 
abroad in mercy and gather praise to his own soul. He will reap 
the soil in love, and in justice will he divide the gathering in of 
his hands : he will hearken unto the cries of those that mourn, and 
his eyes shall have compassion on those that weep ; his name 
shall rule when priests shall be no more. They have sold the life 
of a Redeemer to the world, and made servants of the king's 
hands to gather in for them. The Lord hath sold them for a groat ; 
they are gone for ever, neither will they return. The Lord Je- 
hovah ariseth in his strength, he giveth grace to the king's 
heart ; and he will be strong as the lion in the battle, and as the 
lamb in the day of peace : as the dove in the morning ; and in the 



304 A FRII^D TO BRITAIN. 

evening of the day he will rest from all that he hath done. He 
maketh war with his foes ; hid sword is wisdom and the Almighty is 
the arm of bis strength, for the Lord is visiting the earth with his love ; 
he will pour out the blood of those upon the earth that rise against wis- 
dom ; he will bury their bodies in the sea, and they shall arise no more. 
The hand of the Lord is stretched out against pride, and will not be 
withdrawn till he hath conquered his foes. He prepareth the earth 
for his feet, and he will stand on it; for the latter days draw nigh 
when he will spoil with the sword no more. He will save the 
mother's son and the father's child from the battle. The day com- 
eth when the families of England will be no more separated in her 
cause, for the Lord hath sworn he will have peace on earth as in 
Heaven above ; and, through wisdom, nation shall lift the sword 
agaiu-st nation no more. 

England, make thyself clean as the bride for the bridegroom, for, 
behold ! thy Lord cometh in a time thou lookest not for him, and 
from whence thou knowest not. These lines are as a word of pro- 
phecy unto thee, cast upon thy shores, and many shall gather them 
and treasure them up in the House of the Lord till Shiloh be come. 
The heart will receive them, and the remembrance of England 
retain them for ever. England, O England! wash thine hand3 
from blood, and make an atonement to God, through grace, for thy 
brother's blood thou hast cast into the sea ! and that whereby the 
field hath been replenished ! It is a day of sorrow ; the righteous 
mourn for thee, and the eouls of just men make supplication at thy 
gates. The Lord heareth, — they pray for thy arising from unjust 
things and from all that the Lord's sentence hath pronounced un- 
clean in the written Gospel. Let the princes of Europe become 
as children directed by a father's counsel, and the Lord will or- 
dain praise from their lips. They have sat on high for many ages 
of the world ; but the poor have now arisen to teach them wisdom 
and bless their name ; — priests have arisen from their footstool that 
are able to do them good, and add grace as a healing balm to their 
sovereign's mind. These are they that are crying, — O Lord my 
King, do justice with the harvest of the field, and show mercy to 
the poor that are within thy gates ; for these are the crown of thy 
head and the strength of thy throne. Deliver all thy captives ; 
help Judah home to his own country, — he has long been thy ser- 
vant and a captive at thy gates ; thou wilt not be wholly blessed 
while thy children are in prison, or slave or captive sets his feet on 
British ground. The Lord will assist thee in every good work. 
Raise no controversy with the poor, lest the hand of the Lord shall 
rise against thee and cast thy crown into the dust, and give them 
dominion over thee that have long ruled with an iron hand over 
them. Let their cries soften thine heart, and their tears wash thy 



THE SORROWS OF THE LORD. 30& 

soil from blood and thy throne from the spoil of nations ; for these 
things are found unjust before the Lord. For which cause he has 
come, and is coining, to judge the earth ; and bond and free shall 
know his name, and with great fear will they flee to escape the 
vengeance of the Lord. The throne shall be no covert for the 
king, nor his footstool a hiding-place for his servants ; all shall 
know Him from small to great. 

Seek the peace of nations, O England ! and, O my Prince ! 
spread thy hands abroad in love. He that is against peace is a- 
gainst thee, and, if thou inclinest thine ear unto him, he will cause 
thy throne to swim in blood, and he will drown thy name ; for he is 
unjust before the Lord. Believe him not, nor receive him. Incline 
thine ear to peace, and the Lord will clothe thy mind with a bless- 
ing. Cause the poor to hope, and make glad the heart of the wi- 
dow, and the Lord will visit thee with his love. Keep the sword 
within the sheath, lest it pierce thine own bowels ; but if thou wilt 
unsheathe the sword, the Lord will take it in his own hand, and it 
will return unto thee stained w r ith blood, and it will remain thereon 
forever, and thy sword shall be victorious no more. Raise thine hand 
against those that are against the poor, take the trumpet in thy 
right hand, (not the sword,) and cry aloud to the oppressor from 
the throne of thy strength ; thy voice shall be strong, and the 
sound of thy trumpet be heard afar off. The King of England is 
blessed with compassion on the poor, and all the princes of this 
world must bow the knee and confess his decree ; for grace, mercy, 
and peace are sent abroad from the throne of England. 

The widow's song 's a song of love, 

Her orphan babes do cease to cry, — 
For God has come from Heaven above, 

That heard her groans in misery. 

He's blessed our " William" on the throne, 

And those that may hereafter reign ; 
The widow and her cause he 's known, 

And all the blood the sword hath slain. 



He 's placed His feet on British ground, 
Or there has sent His Loving Son ; 

Our ears do hear the trumpet sound, — 
Our pride is fallen and peace has come. 



SOG 



A FRIEKD TO BRITAIN. 



O that the measures of my love were filled up for Britain, and 
the desires of my soul accomplished ! — for, from hence, I would 
express my desires by the pen no more for the Christian world. 
My soul is as the living spring, or well of deep water, in Britain's 
cause. I draw from the secrets of my mind, but my prayer is not 
accomplished, — my love is not all expressed. I return as the 
thirsty to the living spring, and draw out line by line : The Lord 
knoweth when the end will be. I have cast the pen away, and 
sought after it again as a piece of silver that is lost. Is Britain the 
field of high price? — or why ami, the least of the king's subjects, 
thus straitened? Britain, thy cause is dearer to me than the life 
which I possess, and I would lay down my life for thee if my blood 
would blot out thy stain, or if, in my days, thou couldst see the 
decrees of the Lord. Anger against thy throne hath not inspired 
my hand to move, but love to thee hath quickened my soul, and I 
shall see the fruit of these things on thy shores, and the vine Christ 
Jesus bearing the grape to my sovereign lord the king. I will not 
despair till death closeth up mine eyes, or till mine hand can 
move no more in Britain's cause. What the Lord requireth must 
be accomplished. The truth is not limited, neither is the Son of 
God a respecter of persons. If I have reached my pen too high 
to please the world, I have not done it in mine own name, for a 
fee of gold or a reward of silver, but to please our Father which 
is in Heaven, the Builder and Maker of the Earth. If I err in the 
apprehension of great men, I will sacrifice all in their presence, 
and give my errors for their truths ; but, if they are silent, then 
am I free, and this little book is given from the hand of mercy to 
the children of men. We can offer no acceptable excuses to God 
for services required ; we may err, and be sincere. The great 
and small are prone to evil ; we are one blood and of one mind. 
The origination of our sinning degrees is in the mind of our father 
Adam, but it hath pleased the Lord to make kings of his blood 
and servants of the same. T am not about to chastise my Maker 
for his choice of the creation ; all are his, and it hath pleased 
Him to make my body the footstool, and the king my head to 
rule over me; but the feet are the strongest members of the frame, 
for they bear up the whole body : so do the lower orders of life. 
But the feet are not, without the Lord, more than the head, and 
all must perform our several appointments, for the whole earth hath 
but one God. The feet are accountable to God for strength given, 
and the head for how he maketh use of them. So is the throne 
of Britain, and the head thereon accountable to God for every 
subject that stands below, looking up to the lord our king for pa- 
rental care. The head is not without the feet in the day of battle, 
neither are the feet without the head when the sword is drawn 



THE SORROWS OF THE LORD. 307 

from the sheath. The express desires of my soul are these, that 
great and small will agree, for we are one body and blood in this 
lower world, without partiality or respect by him that is in Heaven. 
He hath appointed one end unto all men. " There is a time to be 
born, and a time to die," and who knoweth it ? The king reigneth 
a day at a time, and, of a truth, cannot boast of to-morrow ; and so 
it is with all the subjects of his throne, and last of all with me also. 
I am doing the king's service by the Lord's appointment, and so will 
I fulfil on the morrow, if time and strength are administered unto me 
from that throne that never will decay ; for I am resolved to serve 
no other throne but the throne of Britain, nor serve another king but 
him of England by the allegiance of my soul. 



Sing, welcome are the days of peace, 
Lord, haste the blessings of our king, 

His subjects sing and never cease, 
And ever praise him when you sing. 

The Lord hath spread his hands abroad, 
His throne hath made a good decree, 

His servants all shall worship God, 
And all his captives shall be free. 

Hosannah in his presence sing, 
Peace and long life to all abroad ; 

Great are the blessings of a king 
That loves his own and praises God. 

His flocks and folds are all at rest, 
He 's cast away the hedge of fear — 

From great to small his flocks are blest, 
And share the harvest of the year. 

The dove is quiet on the bough, 

Her spreading wings from far withdraws, 
For Britain's throne hath made a vow 

To please her servants with good laws, _ 



u 2 



308 A FRIEND TO BRITAIN. 

January 28th, 1835. 

THE LOVE OF GOD TO THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND. 

Thou art the mistress of many nations, or the mother of many 
dissenting bodies ; thou art almost as the eldest in the family, the 
Church of Rome excepted. Thou art the mother of children, and 
thine husband the king, father of decrees. Thy bishops are as lords, 
but not servants in thy cause. Thou hast shown a little mercy in 
these latter years, and obtained from the whole earth great ho- 
nour. Thou hast been prosperous in war, and nations have bowed 
down to thee for peace-sake, and sheathed the sword that was 
drawn against thy name. Consider, my mother, how great thine 
honours are ; ali thy servants support thee, and hold a crown upon 
thy head. Increase in mercy, and God will increase his love to 
thee and all thy dominions, and thou shalt wear the crown without 
the violation of blood and war. We are all servants of God that 
fear his name ; we cannot rise above his judgments, nor descend so 
low that mercy is not there. Thou art as the compass of the Bri- 
tish nation, and thy clergy stand at the helm ; for thou hast com-, 
mitted power and trust unto these. All dissenters bow their knee 
to hold thee up ; why shouldst thou receive two shares amongst thy 
friends ? thou hast a double portion in spiritual and temporal things. 
Thou art the queen of nations, and, according to thy decrees, none 
can be equal with thee. Thou hast made thy mother, the Church 
of Rome, subordinate with the sword, and then made the feast for 
thine own, as though thy priests were Sarah's son, and poor cast- 
off Ishmael can have no part with thee. In Isaac all nations are 
to be called into one. Ishmael and Isaac were one in their father's 
loins, and both are the children of Abram. Ishmael is a little dis- 
agreeable (for his spirit is in his children) till this day : his birth- 
right was taken away, and he was cast into the wilderness a hungry 
and a thirsting soul, with a poor, despised, weeping mother by his 
side. It was the desire of good Abram that he should live, but not 
that he should be cast off. In Isaac we hope, and this was the 
comfort of Abraham that strengthened him to bear the loss of his 
son, the offspring of his own loins, cast off from his then great es- 
tate. He had enough for him and his mother ; but Sarah, unwilling 
he should enjoy, made a decree, (and the Lord commanded Abra- 
ham to bow to it,) that there might be peace between him and Sarah, 
the spouse wherewith the Lord appointed him to dwell ; but a living 
hope that he should return to his father's blessing, that was then 
cast off; remained in Abraham's breast and comforted his soul. The 



THE LOVE OF GOD TO THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND. 

promise of the Lord is good to all people ; he shall return unto 
Isaac and break bread with him, heir his brothership, and live in 
peace; for neither of them twain shall be lord or master over his 
brother, for these are both good Abram's sons. Our Isaac was born 
in Bethlehem of Judea ; his mother's name was " Mary ;" she is 
of Isaac, — blessed Mother, — but her Son is of God. We all have 
but one God, and Christ is our Shepherd and the lawful heir of the 
head of the Church, the Saviour of nations, and Redeemer of the 
world. Mary might have said with confidence,— None shall bo 
heir with my Son ; lie is the Father of all, the wisest that is born 
of a woman, greater than Solomon; and "of the increase of his 
peace and of his kingdom there shall be no end. On the throne of 
David he will order the house of Israel for ever." Careth lie for 
Ishmael ? — or hath Ishmael another than the offspring of Isaac 
wherein he may hope ? No ! He is the Saviour of the world, Esau's 
friend, a father to the afflicted and the poor. Do His decrees, or 
old Sarah's, rule the Church of England ? — I presume Sarah's ; for 
none are heirs with her, either in temporal or spiritual things. Ish- 
mael was jealous, and was angry to see his father's estate so di- 
vided between his two sons that were brethren in their father's 
loins ; but Isaac could not retain the blessing his mother conferred 
upon him, for Isaac's children have been very poor since that day, 
and cast into the world, as Ishmael and Hagar, to the wood. Now 
is the time for Isaac to remember his afflicted brother, and hope', in 
the promise of God to their father Abram, that Ishmael will be 
called in to share the land and the equal blessings of God. Every 
church is jealous that hath not an equal right to heavenly and 
earthly things. But Isaac's Son has come to call Ishmael and share 
the blessing. This is the home, or domestic difficulty with the 
Church of England and her dissenters. If all have to support her 
crown, why not all share her blessings ? From the promises of God 
to Abram, we all have cause to hope we shall one day, through 
Christ Jesus, (the saving Isaac of the world,) be brought together 
as the children of one father, or the offspring of one mother, and 
share temporal blessings alike. As for spiritual gifts, they are at 
God's command, and no bishop is lord over them ; but the earth is 
given in trust to us that inhabit it, and God has given us laws, 
through his great. Legislator his Son Jesus, how we should divide 
the harvest, or lord over the soil below our feet. For all we are 
accountable ; for that which is given the Lord requireth a^ain, 
whether spiritual or temporal ; all^are his. Why, Church of Eng- 
land, should thy sons he lord over their brethren ? If this was the 
Lord's decree through Christ Jesus, there would be peace ; for " all 
his paths are peace," and all his ways are pleasantness. Your land 
is now in a family quarrel ; to the mother's shame do the offspring 
u 3 



310 A FRIEND TO BRITAIN. 

disagree. Hare they been brought up in the way they should go ? 
They have not ; and hard it is for them to depart from their edu- 
cation. Let us make use of the judgments of the Lord to make 
us wise : There is captivated Israel at our gates, and for our sakes 
suffering captivity for our great information. They had a country 
— the garden of the world — a lawgiver, and a king. And the Lord 
sent prophets unto them, to declare unto crowns and princes their 
errors face to face. Is it not as hard for England, or the Church 
of England, to reform from manifest unfriendly and unjust errors, 
as it was for the Jews to repent of their sins ? In time they wearied 
the patience of their God, and slew the last prophet that was sent 
unto them, (our professed Saviour.) They lost their country, their 
kingdom, and their prophetic friends. There they are at your 
gates, waiting for the mercies of God. They that could once 
wield the sword with as much power as yourselves, and cause whole 
nations to bow the knee, sheathe the sword, and be at peace with 
the King of Israel, — are now as helpless children ; and, as for their 
own deliverance, can do nothing. Learn a lesson, my mother the 
Church of England, while the day is young. The wise king hath 
said there is nothing new ; the dispensation of God is without error 
from the beginning to the end with the children of men. That 
which is, " has already been," and God requires that which is 
past. Dissenters do not ask the crown from thy head to place it 
upon their own, nor thy bishops to be their footstool, but their 
brethren. This is IshmaePs right with Isaac, and it will be ob- 
tained ; this is the right of the Church of Rome and of all dissenting 
bodies. Now, my mother, make peace with thy children. It is but 
a shame to thee and a stain to thy Christian covering, to have 
quarrels in thine own house, through the decrees of Sarah, when 
the Lord hath promised through Christ all shall be made alive, and, 
as we obey his voice, be saved from our sins. Did the Son of God 
divide temporalities like unto thee ? Did he give more to James 
than to John ? — or did he anoint Peter lord over his brethren ? No ! 
Then thy decrees are not of God, for thou hast done so ; thou hast 
set one of thy children above another, and thou hast made some 
their brother's slaves. Are these the sinful sons of Noah thou hast 
with thee in thy Church ? — that thou hast bound their hands to the 
ground, to earn their brothers' bread ? Ishmael will ever mock and 
envy in the days of feasting, while thy decrees are so ; and if he 
is found speaking against these things, he is styled as a rebel to thy 
throne, — unworthy of trust : He must take his loaf of bread and his 
bottle of water, and be off from the feast, the office, and the bishops' 
board. Now, my kind mother, the Lord hath done much for thee, 
and committed nations and generations to thy trust ; do not be hard 
with Ishmael, for there is a cause, and the Lord hath remembered 



THE LOVK OF GOD TO THE CHTJHCH OF ENGLAND. 311 

Esau in his grief, and hath sent one Saviour to us all. Could you 
bear Ishmael's fate and be still? If not so, it is wrong to impose 
it on your brethren. There is a blessing (or the poor, and peace 
for thine house and thy kingdom, if thou, as a Church, wilt receive 
it as it is the decree of God to give. Follow Christ : let the ta- 
lented man do much, as Peter had much to do ; but do not make 
him his brother's lord, for the Son of God hath not done this in 
spiritual or temporal things. Call all thy children together, and 
make a feast for them. When children are of age, they act for 
themselves. Why dost thou assume the lordship over thy neigh- 
bour's goods, and take from John and James and give unto Peter? 
Thy throne is in danger because of these decrees, and thy Church 
is stained with spots of partiality with the children of men. Thou 
hast reached the king's hands into the world, to gather into thy 
bosom, and then hast thou fed thine own with a partial hand from 
thine own breast. These things have evilly affected the mind of 
thy subjects against thy name ; and, when no nation is against thee, 
thine own house is quarrelling at home about the tribute thou hast 
taken from the ground. Change thy decrees ; call all to thy table, 
and give all an equal share of thy mercies while it is in thy power, 
and they will bless thee from head to foot ; for these are the decrees 
of God unto us through his Son Jesus Christ. 



Join hand and foot and sing this song, 
And let the king attend to hear : 

Injustice in religion 's wrong, 

The cause of many a groan and tear. 

The Lord hath placed his feet below, 

His holy body stands to plead, 
And he is strong against his foe, 

Impartial where his hand doth feed. 

My mother, drink of his decrees, 

As oil and wine they '11 heal thy breast ; 

There's none on earth so good as these, 
They give the weary laden rest. 

O mother ! rise and spread thy hands 
To all that are around thy throne, 

Be all impartial in command, 

And God will bless thy house and home. 



312 A FRIEND TO BRITAIN. 



Per Contra. 

It may truly be said that the Church of England hath rebellious 
servants against her decrees, and a family of many difficulties 
wherewith to make peace, and the rod is the only means convenient 
in her hands. Fear causeth the sword to be drawn from the sheath, 
but the sword will not be a continuing wall around the Church of 
Christ ; it was the wall trusted in that hedged in the city of God, 
Jerusalem. But the Lord is stronger than the wall can be ; he 
threw it down, and made Jerusalem a prey to her enemies. The 
like again may be — (I do not say it will be ;) you may lose the 
city, and your sorrows be very great. It is better to give a little 
than to have a large sum taken away. Bend the knee, bring the 
ear of the Church and the crying child together; give not the stone 
in place of the bread, nor a scorpion when the fish is desired. 

Now, my brethren, subjects of the throne, hope in patience. The 
promises of the Lord are sure ; till he giveth, we cannot obtain. 
Israel was long reaching the promised shore ; sometimes near and 
at other times far away. Pursue the desired object of reform no 
faster than the light of Heaven goeth before you : That which God 
giveth, none can take away ; it is ever his own. Jerusalem fell by 
his decrees, rather than by the strength of men. Pursue just rea- 
son, and pray for an understanding heart : Reach not the sword to 
blood, else thy brother's blood will cry against thee from the ground. 
Give not the Lord a cause to judge us, or the children of Israel, any 
more ; all their sword victories are lost, because the Lord hath 
taken them away. They will obtain their country and freedom in 
peace, and it never will depart from them ; so let us obtain every 
privilege we hope to enjoy, and they never will pass away. Wis- 
dom exceedeth the sword in skill, and is stronger than an army of 
trained men : she never was conquered, nor ever will be. — 
Draw the line in wisdom, and build with the utmost skill. The 
calling is of God, and the prize is sure, if we will honour his Son 
Jesus, and keep him foremost in the battle : He will plead with the 
priest till he is ashamed, and weigh him in a scale, the justness 
whereof he cannot deny. He, Jesus, is a friend to the king, and a 
father to the people : his love is to England and Ireland ; these are 
as the pillars of his feet, and he will do many things thereon, and 
bless the nations of the world. 



THE LOVE OF OOD TO THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND. 313 



He '11 teach the captives how to sing v . 

And give them oil and wine in store ; 
He '11 learn them how to bless their king, 

To dry their tears and mourn no more. 



With equal balance he '11 divide, 

He 's made these distant Isles his own ; 

With love will he subdue their pride, — 
Through grace rebuild the British throne. 



His weeping eyes have seen the grief, 
His troubled soul their burdens bear; 

His name is coming for relief, 

To build his throne and glory there. 



For the readers information, we give the following few brief 
hints to elucidate in some measure the character of the Author : 

His disposition is to patiently hear the cries of the young or old, 
and to perform any kind of labour or service in the church — 
preaching the ways of salvation to all mankind, through the blood 
of Jesus or his sufferings. He has given the whole of his time to 
religious service for rising of twenty years, although a man in li- 
mited circumstances, and he would never receive any remunera- 
tion for this service. He is of a charitable disposition, beyond 
what has appeared in our day — having instituted a " Monthly Sa- 
crifice," or contribution, (voluntarily offered,) for the benefit of the 
poor or afflicted. He has given gratis to his brethren his services 
as a builder, also the ground whereon our three buildings of wor- 
ship stand. And although he is a man not versed in science, yet 
his pattern for building will stand the test of the most strict scrutiny, 
and we can say the house (which he designed) for our Monthly Sa- 
crifice has obtained the character of being a modern structure 
for chasteness of design unsurpassed. 

He is not in connexion with any of the sectarians in the Christian 
name,- -himself standing alone in his public testimony. His mind 
appears to be fashioned by an invisible hand ; ready at all seasons 
to do good, and communicate, sensibly feeling with the afflicted. 

Signed, for the Village of Hope, where he resides, by 

MURDICK McLEOD, Senr., 
WILLIAM REID, Senr., 
JOHN DOAN, Senr., 
SAMUEL HUGHES, 
EBENEZER DOAN. 



THE 



ACTING PRINCIPLES 



LIFE 



BY DAVID WILLSON, 

EAST GWILLIMBURY, COUNTY OF YORK, AND PROVINCE OF UPPER CANADA. 



TORONTO; 
1835. 



TO THE READER. 

I had thought to close up the preceding work in this place, hut my mind 
being impressed with a few things contained in the following lines, respect- 
ing " the acting principles of life," I have given a few representations to 
encourage virtue and suppress vice, which I trust the reader will find to be 
just representations of truth. D. VV. 






February 20th, 1835. 

LOVE. 

Love hath no beginning nor ever will have an end. Love is the 
revealed will of God, and the saviour of nations. Love is the con- 
quering sword of God, the peace-maker of the world, the blessed of 
God. She bears his own image, and is forever. She ariseth in the 
east as the light of day. She is the bride of man, and the bridegroom 
of the soul. She binds together, and none can part those whom she 
hath joined together. She hath connected limb to limb, and joint to 
joint, since ever her name was known to the human mind. She is 
ever in the presence of God. She conceals her mind from those that 
disbelieve her name, till sorrow shall enable them to embrace her 
hand with a smile. She is as the queen of the Deity ; as male and 
female, she is one with God. Love is not without God, neither is the 
Deity without love. Love is the spring of life and the pillar of the 
world. Were it not for love, we should be drowned as in the depths 
of the sea ; death would run lawless, and disease would prevail over 
us. I am of a depressed mind, and would know the cause of it. 
My sorrows are without sin, and my burden is that which guilt hath 
not brought upon me. The Lord measures our iniquity in a span, 
reveals our sins to our souls. He causeth us to smart for them, and 
he taketh them away ; as a stone cast into the sea, they are seen or 
known no more. Sorrow and grief remain when sin is gone ; but 
these are attributes by which we shall know the Lord. Love is a 
stranger to sinners; she walketh alone in the world till she findeth 
the partner of her choice. She embraces with joy, and her cove- 
nants are forever. She forsaketh not the beloved of the Lord ; she 
bindeth together those "whom he loveth, and is in the midst of them. 
She cometh from the east, clothed with the light of heaven ; her 
breasts are as two rising suns by the morning light. She is without 
clouds. She walketh as a maiden from the wilderness. She mourn- 
eth, but I know not why ; the name of sin is not engraven upon h«r 
mantles. Her eyes flow as streams of living waters. Why doth 
this fair one weep ? Her covering is dark as the night with mourn, 
ing, and she lifteth not up her eyelids to behold the morning. Her 
bosom is bare, but without embraces. Her eyes are bright as the 
diamond covered with clear water ; so are her weeping eyes with 
tears: She is coming ! she is coming ! a cup of gold is in her right 
hand, and a sword in her left. Her cup is filled with bloods that 
were of old, the life of her children that have deceased in former 
days ; she seeketh a covering for them. She seeketh a husband to 



318 ACTING PRINCIPLES OF LIFE. 

drink of her cap, and her children shall be clothed with flesh again, 
and become as the stars of heaven. Peace is engraven on her sword 
with letters of gold. She showeth the hilt to kings, but keepeth fast 
hold of the blade of it. The point is dipped in blood for a short space, 
and blood droppeth from the point of the sword on the nations, and 
it is as rain on the ground that maketh the tender plant to grow ; so 
doth peace follow the sword through all the nations of the world. 
Her breasts drop with milk and wine, and there is none to retain 
the oil of her love, and like precious silver or fine gold that is lost, 
this ointment wasteth away. Now, I know why love mourneth as a 
maiden without a lover, why her tears run from her pitying eyes, 
as streams of living water, and why her coverings are dark with 
mourning as the night. And the Lord gave unto me a pen of thick 
darkness, and I gave my right hand unto the Lord forever, and I sat 
me down at his table, and he commanded me to write the sorrows of 
love, and the morning of her days, and give the same to the souls of 
men to be remembered by them forever ; and I drew near unto her, 
and saw that her feet were clothed as with gold, and she walked upon 
the mountains and upon the rivers, and I saw none to follow her ; and 
I arose and walked after her with my pen in my right hand, to record 
the steps of her feet, and reveal that she hath shewn unto me. And 
she beheld me afar off, like one seeking in distress for that which is 
lost ; and she hailed me with a gentle sound of a trumpet, and she 
said, Come near unto me, and I will clothe thee with mantles of 
mine own, and thou shalt mourn for all flesh below the sun, and 
these sorrows shall be heavy upon thee, but mine shall be more 
light, when I impart to thee my cares. And I saw why I have 
mourned without sin, and wept for a cause that hath been to me 
unknown. And she showed unto me her hands, and I saw they had 
been wounded, but they were healed again, and she spake gently in 
mine ears of things that will not be revealed, till Israel is restored ; 
and then they shall be seen and heard by all the nations of the world. 
She took hold of me in her right hand and placed the cup of gold in 
my left, and bid me write with the blood of the prophets, and drink 
thereof and be filled, and I should see as they saw, and write as they 
had wrote, and mourn because of love to Israel. And she set her 
right foot on the sea, and looked toward the east from whence she 
came ; and all the nations of the east smiled to see her breasts, and 
rejoiced with a sound of great joy. And I saw the kings of the east 
come unto her with their crowns in their left hand, as the covering 
of the head of a child, and vessels of gold and of precious silver in 
their right hand, to receive the flowing milk and wine that ran from 
her bosom, and had been lost on the earth and in the sea : and they 
returned with thanksgiving and praise to God, and divided their milk 
and their wine and their oil with those that mourn. And I saw the 



LOVE. 319 

sun arise, clothed with a mantle of blood ; and when he arose to the 
height of a man, love, that did stand with her right foot on the sea, 
raised the sword in her left hand, and drew a line on the covering 
of the sun, and the mantle divided into four parts, and fell upon the 
ground and upon the sea, and the raging thereof was still, and the 
voice of the billows did cease, and I heard them no more. And the 
inhabitants of the world became clothed with blood that was of old, 
and Israel arose from his captivity and visited his native home ; but 
there was no temple in it : the hedges of Jerusalem were broken 
down, and there was great sorrow in the heart of Jacob, and such 
as hath not been since the foundations of the world ; and all flesh 
mourned with him, for they saw he was exceeding sorrowful, even 
unto death, through the remembrance of past things. And love 
spread out her hands over Judah and Jerusalem ; and she command- 
ed me to mourn for Israel, and she would weep with me, and we 
mourned together in a solitary place, where none beheld but the eye 
of heaven. And the Lord gave kings and priests unto Israel, and 
such as were of old, even David their king, and Jonathan to sorrow 
with him, and priests of a goodly kind ; and they rebuilt the walls 
of Jerusalem and the house of the Lord, and my sorrow ceased, and 
my burden was taken away : and love changed her mantle, as by the 
watercourse, and she is the heart of man that God has given, as the 
angel of his praise^ and there will be peace on earth, and the terror 
of the sword shall cease. The husband will be no more taken from 
the bride after these days, nor the son from the mother's arms. The 
blood of the prophets will overspread the nations, and sorrows that 
were of old will abate the fiery indignation of the sword. Wars 
shall cease and peace abound ; for these are the virtues and effects 
of love. There shall be but one prince in Israel, the Lord of Hosts 
in the heart of his servant David ; and all flesh shall become as Israel 
in the latter days, and greatly love and fear and serve the Lord. The 
Most High hath spoken it, and love hath become the visitor of my 
soul, revealed unto me the cause of sorrow, and why the nations 
mourn. She hath conquered death. He shall no more walk in 
darkness with diseases in his hand. His distressing mission shall 
be fulfilled, and he shall be no more. 



t 320 ] 



SORROW. 

Sorrow, thou art my sister. Thou hast set all my limbs and joints 
apart. Thou hast divided the world. Thou hast come unto me 
through the gates prepared for thy feet before the pillars of the 
earth were laid. Thou art in all my bones ; my whole heart know- 
eth thee. Thou hast become the heir of (he whole earth. Thy 
bosom is broader than the sea. Thou art stronger than the mind. 
Thou subduest princes by thy name, and leadest kings captive down 
to death. Thou dividest apart all that the Lord hath put together. 
Thou art the powerful and terrifying servant of the Lord. Thou 
walkest on the highest hills, and the humble vales are not free from 
the burden of thy feet. When wilt thou release me from thy bosom? 
When will crowns and princes cease to walk after thee ? I am wea- 
ry of thy groans by night, and flee the shadow of thy name by day ; 
but from thy penetrating eyes there is no hiding place. Wilt thou 
leave me alive to mourn till the setting sun ? or wilt thou take me 
away before my mourning cease ? Oh thou visitor of the Most High, 
my heart doth fear and tremble because of thee ! Why hast thou 
come unto me to increase my tears, multiply my sighs, and increase 
my groans without number ! Oh kindred sister of my soul, depart 
from me and send death unto me, and I will cease to mourn, and 
mine eyelids will be closed up. Why dost thou walk in the earth 
where no sin is ? Why callest thou on my soul to mourn ? Thou 
art ever ready by the morning light. Thou walkest with me all the 
day ; thou art not weary by the setting sun. Thou continuest sighing 
in mine ears through the still watches of the night, and when mine 
eyelids close, I dream of thee. Thy hand has been heavy upon me, 
and love has come from heaven to share my grief. My sighs have 
brought mercy to my bosom, and pity from the Most High ; but thou 
art not willing to depart till thy days are filled, and all my soul mourns 
with sorrow, and every limb and joint crieth because of grief. Thou 
art unseen by those that are in the high ways ; but thy snares are 
laid in the midst of the street, and none shall escape the net thou 
hast set for the feet of all men. Thou standest in the street corner 
unseen by the young. Thine hands are spread abroad as a mother 
to gather them unto thy bitter breast. Thy paps overflow with worm- 
wood and with gall, and as vinegar are the words of thy lips. Oh 
that I had died in infancy, or that ever I was born to know thy name 
or write of thee ! Thy wine is the blood of those that were of old, 
and thou hungerest for the grave to cast the present in. Death is on 
thy right hand a shortened space from thee, and diseases are in the 
breath of thy lips. Thou fannest the world with sighs of sorrow. 



SORROW. »21 

The mother mourneth for her first-born because of thee. The bride 
is taken from the tender husband for thy sake. No pity is in thy 
ways; thou art without respect to names below the sun. Thou hast 
clothed nations with a cloud, and drawn the sword in the dark, and 
s'ain the offspring of the world. Thou art the heart of man chas- 
tised of the Lord. Thou walkest without a covering; thou art with- 
out shame. No pity is in thy ways ; thou causeth the little ones 
to weep. From thee there is no hiding place, neither can any close 
up thy secrets from the world. Thou walkest before the Lord day 
and night, neither can sea or land part thee from thine own. Thou 
hidest in the valley for a moment ; again thou art seen on the moun- 
tain top. Zion is not free from thy mourning, neither is Sinai without 
thy name. There is no just law-giver but hath known thee. Thou 
hast first enclosed him in the bosom of thy cares. Thou strewestthe 
blood of saints upon the earth. Thou makest their veins to become 
as rivers in the east, and thou baptizest all nations in them. Thou 
makest thy name to be known to the most distant hills in this world ; 
and where the babe is not born, thou art waiting for the birth. Oh 
that my soul hath ever known thy ways ! Thou makest me to mourn 
all the day, and my burden heavy to be borne. Hast thou no end, 
or where is the curse or the purpose of thy coming ? I am weary 
of thy ways, and still thou holdest fast on me as though thine hands 
were iron, or as though I am debtor to thy will. My evenings are 
not without sorrow, and my noon-day droppeth as with blood from 
the skies. Thou providest no shade for thine own, nor a covert from 
the storm. The billows mourn because of thee, and swalloweth up 
the dead thou casteth therein. The mariner dreads thy name, and 
landsmen fear thy ways. Thou standest at the brink of the grave 
all the day ; at the setting of the sun thou closest up the dead in thy 
bosom, and seekest again for mourning kindred that are yet behind. 
Thou art almost as old as the hills, and art not satisfied. Thou 
hast been with man almost since he was made, and yet thou art not 
weary in thy steps. Thou waitest for every one that is born into 
the world. Thou art as the mother of all to feed them at thy bosom, 
and quickly part the parent from the child. Thine age is as nothing 
before thee ; the sea is full, but thy days are not yet accomplished. 
I will make a covenant with thee my sister ; I will mourn as long as 
thou wilt show a cause, and then shall my sorrows cease. Thou 
art as the garments of Israel that were of old. Thou wast with Ja- 
cob in the days of his youth. Thou leddest Israel into bonds* and 
through deep sorrow they came away. Thou leddest Pharaoh into the 
depths of the sea, and drownedst him in deep waters; thou fulnlledst 
thy mission with him and followed Israel. Thou didst throw down the 
temple of the Most High, and overcamest the walls of Jerusalem. Thy 
name shall be blotted out under heaven, and thy time shall be no more. 



322 ACTING PRINCIPLES OF LIFE. 

Thou hast been with me from a child till I am of old age, and now 
thine hands are multiplied upon me. Thou hast increased my sighs, 
and caused mine eyes lo flow as streams of living water. But love 
hath embraced me when thou sawest her not; she came unto me by 
a way thou hast not known. Thou cannot follow after her. She is 
as the eagle in the air, or the ship in the sea; she hath left no way 
behind. Thou canst not find her out by the marks of her hand, and 
her embraces are where thou never sawest. She followeth after thee, 
and beholds all thy ways, and her ointments heal all the bruises 
thou hast ever made. She will show thee naked to the world. Thou 
shalt be ashamed of thy ways, and return to death from whence thou 
earnest ; and these twain shall go together down into the grave, their 
remembrance shall be forever. The inhabiters of the earth shall 
rejoice over their end, and all the dead shall live and be at peace 
with God. 



February 25th, 1835. 
HOPE. 

Hope, thou art the bride of the living, the staff" of the afflicted, 
and the pillars of life. Thou art everywhere present with those 
that serve the Lord. Thy departure from the mind is despair, 
which none can endure and be at rest. Thou fleest as the dove 
from the bough ; thou returnest again with renewed strength. Thou 
art as wine to the thirsty, and comfortest those that mourn ; none can 
do the will of God where thou art not, but sorrow with unceasing 
pain till thy fair hands open the prison doors, unbind the prisoners, 
and set the captives free. Thy hands lead the way from earth to 
Heaven. O, how shall I write of thee, and do justice to thy name! 
Thy merits are past finding out ; the line of thy ways is unknown 
to man ; thou art unequalled in the balance, unweighed, and un- 
measured in the scale. 

Lend me thine hand, thou fair one of the East, thou companion 
of the sun, and I will draw a line of all thou deliverest to my soul. 
Thou art from earth to Heaven, before the worlds were made or 
the measures thereof weighed in a balance. Thou wast with God 
when darkness was, or ever the sun arose. In thy name the pil- 
lars of the earth were established, and for thee did all living come 
into existence to accomplish the measure of thy days. Thou built 
as the hand of God to comfort thine own bosom, and to satisfy the 
teeing Eye with the glory of thy ways ; thou art with the living. 



ttoru. 825 

and beyond the mansions of the dead a living spirit of the Most 
High — a nd, with us, the presence of God. Thy hand is fair, thy 
presence is without spot. Thou deceivest by thy absence the wicked 
that trust in thee. Thy wings are from the east to the western 
skies, and thy name is written in the midst of Heaven. Thou de- 
ceivest, and thou healest again ; thy absence turns the sinner from 
his ways, and thy presence heals the weary soul. Thou art rest 
to the afflicted ; but, without thee, crowns and princes mourn and 
cannot be comforted. Thou art the fountain of living waters, the 
everlasting bread of life, and every taste of thee is more to come. 
Thou strengthenest the weak and givest courage to the weary ; by 
thee his trembling steps are increased, and thou art with him al- 
ways down to the grave. Thou bearest up his mind beyond the 
Comb. Thou takest away the covering from the skies, and reveal- 
est Heaven to his soul. Thou restest with him by night, and wait- 
est with patience for his waking eyes. Thou showest unto him the 
cause of his birth, and biddest him pursue, and thou walkest before 
him all the day. At the setting sun thou removest his landmark 
a day before. So we travel and enjoy thy breast, and still thou 
commandest our feet to run ; there is for ever more to be obtained, 
and thou art also our present joys. Take me in thine arms, and 
show unto me the prize that is afar off. Let me draw the wine of 
thy bosom, and I will write of the steps of thy feet, and know thy 
soul within, and the spirit from whence thy bosom flows. Thy 
days are as a hand's-breadth to the wicked ; thou art as the light 
almost extinguished ; and Despair pursueth, and wafteth thy name 
away. Where thou art not, life decays ; there is no bridegroom 
for the soul ; she mourneth in lonesome places ; she seeketh, and 
findeth not : To these thou art gone, and hast left no space behind 
that man can follow thee. Thou art the independent visiter of our 
God. There is none can bind thee with a chain, or by invitation 
command thee to tarry here. Thou art older than the sun ; before 
the angels of Heaven were assembled together, thou art the inspi- 
ration of the mind, — the gathering arm of God. The Lord drew 
out the lines of the creation in thy name ; and alt that He hoped 
for, He saw arise. Thou art the pillar of pleasure, — the light of a 
coming day. Thou risest early before the sun, and providest for 
thine own, as a mother of the righteous. The saints draw wine at 
thy bosom, and are comforted ; thou art never weary by the setting 
sun ; thy presence is for ever new. To those that love, thou in- 
spirest life, and bringest the income of labour to the breast. The 
righteous drink of thee, but thou art not exhausted : thou art the 
wine that is never spent. Heaven is thy treasure, and the earth 
the deeds of thy building hands : thou walkest up and down in it, 
as a maiden in the garden of her joys. Thou art ever in the tern- 
v 2 



324 



ACTING PRINCIPLES OF LIFE. 



pie of God: thou singest with the righteous, and comfortest those 
that mourn with the pleasure of thy lips. Thou embracest the little 
ones ; and, as the tender mother, thy breasts do flow to those that 
love. Thy covering is changeable as the evening and the mor- 
ning : thou changest thy covering as often as the day. Thy man- 
ties are never worn; they are for ever new from the Lord. Thou 
art the bride of the soul, and as the bridegroom of life : for thee all 
things were made, that thy spirit might be full and thy treasures 
for ever. Thou leadest the soul in hidden paths : thou embracest 
when alone in the secret watches of the night. Thou givest wine 
to the thirsty when all are still; the righteous drink of thee with a 
composed mind. Thy cup decayeth not away, neither are the 
righteous drunken with thy joys : they are life to the mind and 
spirit to the soul, — oil to the joints, — blood to the veins, — light to 
the eyes, — direction to those whose eyes are dim, — a lamp in the 
night season, — and our rising sun by morning light. Thou art 
never conquered with the sword, nor slain in the battle. Thou for- 
sakest not those that put their trust in thee ; neither dost thou des- 
pise the infant's name. Thine hand doth write early on the tables 
within his breast : his eyes are early taught to see thy name, and 
all his little limbs do toil for thee all the day, that he may enjoy 
thy bosom by the setting sun. Thou art with the widow, a parent 
to those that mourn ; thou anointest our eyes to see beyond the 
grave ; thou hast written thy name in worlds to come ; thy store- 
house and thy treasure are there. Thou art with the servant and 
with the great ; the minds of young and old are clothed with thee : 
thy mantles are as the clouds of heaven : within thy gates is eternal 
life, and the afflicted have their dwelling there. Thou hast been 
in the midst of the flame ; and, as life consumed away, thy pre- 
sence did increase in their minds, and the saints were strong in 
death because of thee. Thou deftest the arrows of the wicked, and 
abatest the anger of the unjust. Martyrs have slept in thine arms, 
and received death in sweet repose. The conquerors will be con- 
quered : with despair they shall weep where thou art not to com- 
fort them: thy absence is the terror of a coming day, and the 
cause why the wicked shall mourn for thee (in thy absence) where 
theie is none to hear. Thou art stronger than death, and swifter 
than the wind : thou fleest where none can pursue : as the ship in 
the sea, as the eagle in the air, thou leavest not a way behind. 
Thou canst not be overtaken by the horse and his rider. Crowns 
shall seek thy name in vain, and many high priests shall fall pros- 
trate at thy feet. 

Continue thy direction, and I will pursue, my sister ; and, when 
I am old, I will overtake thee and enjoy thy love. Thy presence 
waiteth for those thou seest coming, and thy love embraces with a 



HOPE. 3 '2 9 

smile : thou art in the desert and in the city. Thou art ever with the 
righteous : thou makest a certain covenant with them : thou fleest for 
a moment, to visit again. As a maiden changeth her garments in 
secret, so thou renewest thy life, and return est to those that love. 
Thou blessed of the Most High, O that I could see all that is within 
thy breast, that I might declare unto man the purpose of thy days, 
and why thou art sent into the world to live with us ! Thy bosom 
is as the heavens above, covered with a cloud ; so art thou to 
those that look not upon thy name : thou art more virtuous than all 
the maidens of the king's house, or any of them. Thou wilt not expose 
the secrets of thy breast to those that love thee not ; and to those 
that despise thy name thou art afar off. Thine eyes behold our 
necessities : thou waterest, as we thirst for heavenly things. Thou 
deceivest in the coverings of this present world ; thou wearest 
crowns for a moment, and castest them away. Thou clothest thy- 
self in costly apparel, and then despisest them as the unclean rags 
for men to wear. Thou settest landmarks in the earth, and re- 
movest them again ; and no eye seeth the marks of thine hand. 
Thou buildest cities, and castest them down : thou buildest thrones 
and fallest therefrom, to disappoint the world in deeds like these. 
Thou enterest into the merchant's ship, and swiftly passest from sea 
to sea as on the wings of the wind. Thou disappointest in trade, 
and fulfillest — to bring to nothing again. All these things the God 
of Heaven hath given thee, and hid the powers of Heaven in thy 
bosom, and shadowed Hell within the mantles thou dost wear. Thou 
fleest at an unexpected time, and leavest the soul to mourn for thee 
without a covering, and to thirst without a cure. O that my soul 
knew all thy ways ! I would speak of thee through years to come, 
and teach my soul to believe in all that will come to pass. From 
the earth thou art gone, and hast left this world as an empty habi- 
tation to mourn for thee for ever. The solitary place knoweth thee 
no more ; many are seeking the paths of thy feet where they can- 
not be found. They flee from hill to hill — from valley to valley : 
all are covered with a gloom of despair. The light of the sun de- 
creaseth, and the lamp of the wicked hath gone quite out, because 
of thee. Thou hast arisen ; the bright cloud is thy covering ; the 
sun is in the midst of thy bosom ; who shall remove the cloud, that 
I shall see thee shine ? Thy heart is in the midst of the temple of 
the Lord, and thy spirit in all his dwelling-place. Thou art gone 
where I cannot see : the Earth mourneth for thee, as the mother 
for the loss of her first-born. The Lord hath borne thee from the 
earth : the hills are desolate ; the valleys are without a shepherd, 
and the flocks are scattered abroad. The fields mourn because of 
thee, and the bridegroom is without the bride, in his distress, bia 
fair one is lost, and hath no compass to her soul. She walketh ia 
v 3 



3^6 ACTING PRINCIPLES OF LIFE. 

the garden where the flowers grew : they are fallen : the bush is 
without the rose : the flower and the stem is gone. The gates 
mourn, and there is no pleasure within ; Hope has gone to her 
rest, and all her guests are there. She rendeth the cloud and part- 
eth her mantles, but she is afar off. She appears as a shepherd in 
the skies, feeding her flocks as on the side of a hill. There are 
deep rivers between us and the fold of rest. Her sun never goeth 
down, neither doth the oil in her lamp decay. She sitteth in the 
shade all the day ; her oil is not wasted, nor her wine spent : she 
is with the Most High, and her absence will change the whole 
world. 



DESPAIR. 

Despair, thou art as the dark cloud that receiveth the setting sun. 
The stars of heaven were never set in thee, nor the moon known to 
change within thy breast. Thou wearesta mantle of deep mourning. 
Thou hast taken fast hold on mine hand, and I cannot put thee away. 
Thou art the bride of kings, and princes will slumber within thy 
breast. Thy gates are open to the whole earth ; the way is broad, 
and none can pass thee by. Thou spreadest thine hands abroad 
through the dark watches of the night. Thou hidest thyself in the 
chambers of the rich before the setting sun. Thou art under the 
king's pillow, and he knoweth it not ; he cannot pursue, for thou hast 
left no way behind. Thou makest all thy mantles of the night, and 
thy garments of the midnight hours. All thine house mourns because 
of thee ; thou art as the mother without wine, thou hast nought to 
lend to those that would borrow of thee : thy breast is empty, a 
doleful sound is heard in thy habitation, the flocks cry for a shep- 
herd : thy sons are bound in prison, thy daughters are gone out, and 
the pathway is closed from their return. Thy little ones cry at thy 
feet, and thou shakest the rod over them ; they look up to thee for 
pity, thou frownest upon their desires and fillest their cup with tears. 
Wormwood and gall are in the treasures of thine house ; thy sun 
hath gone down, and all thine household are in the night. Hope 
hath forsaken thee, and left thy gates to mourn ; thou art the terrors 
of life, and hell to those that seek thine habitation. There are none 
to close thy gates ; there is no lamp in thee by night, and all thy 
helpless kindred are mourning. Thy beds are as rods of iron. Thy 
garden produceth the thorn and thistle to the young, there is no plea- 
sure upon the stem ; the rose doth neither bud nor blossom there. 
Thy walls are as hills and mountains on which the sun hath never 
shone, Thy rivers flow with thick darkness ; thy brood is unknown 



DESPAIR. && 

to wine and oil. Thy cups are filled with blood ; they are bitter to 
my soul, and the bonds of death are in thee. Thou art the prison, 
but the keeper of thy doors cannot release : thou art the endless pit 
that taketh the stranger in, in thee his time is never fulfilled, nor his 
desires accomplished. Thine house is never filled ; thou art ever 
thirsting and never satisfied. Thou art the mother of all the afflicted 
sons of men ; thy daughters walk abroad with a false invitation, but 
thou art ever before them to take their unthoughtful lovers by the 
feet; thou layest the snare in darkness, where none doth see thine 
hands doth labour, for shame doth cover all thy works. 

Thy prince is like the rock, he changeth not by feeling; death is 
in his ways ; to comfort he is a stranger, nor pitieth those that mourn : 
he hath no hiding place from the presence of God; the sun of right- 
eousness hath shone upon his garments, he hath compassed him about 
with wisdom and bound him with a chain ; he is unknown to the heart 
of a man, but the sun of righteousness hath sought him out, disco- 
vered all his dwelling and revealed his ways. His covering is the 
shadow of death ; the music of his house are deep sorrows, and his 
time without end. His habitation was builded in the east ; his heart 
is the house of sin, and he repays his servants there. Oh thou bride 
of distress, when will thou release those that are bound in thee? 
When shall thy little ones behold the deception of thy ways? Thou 
hast removed to the western hills, but the rising sun hath followed 
thee as the shadow of the night; he hath withdrawn hope from thee, 
that the world may know thy temple or dwelling, and all thou canst 
do alone. Hope hath forsaken thy bosom as the setting sun, and 
thy clouds are spread over the whole earth. Thou art the gateway 
of nations, and all flesh shall pass through thee, and thou shalt be 
left without a son to keep thy doors, or a servant to serve thy name. 
Sorrow in thee shall cease : the dove shall visit thy habitation and 
return to the world. Death shall depart from thy gates ; the dove 
shall fulfil all thy sorrows, and death shall be no more. Thou art 
the habitation of the lost, and the comfortless of the Lord. The 
dove shall mourn in thee, till there is no cause found in thee to 
mourn, and then shall sorrows cease. The blood of the martyrs are 
in thy treasures, and the soul of those that have done wickedly since 
the world begun ; this blood is for their drink, and the wages of past 
sins are united in thee, and thy garment is dark as the covering of 
the night. The whole earth are at thy gates, and a voice is heard 
in thee as the " voice of many waters ;" all Israel doth mourn for 
the desolate city Jerusalem. The sins of Sodom are in thee, and 
Gomorrah mourneth in thee as thy first-born ; thou hast not where- 
with to comfort these that weep, and by thee none shall be satisfied ; 
thou art the left hand servant of the Lord, the sorrows of sin, the 
dwelling of the proud, thy sun shall never rise, neither shall a lamp 



338 ACTING PRINCIPLES OF LIFE. 

be seen in thee. la thee there is no stepping stone, the weary make 
no progress there. Thy time is drawing to a close ; thou art tha 
offspring of sin. Sin is the pillar of thine house, and all thy builders 
labour in the dark. Thy walls are without square or cubit ; thine 
house is without direction, built by the invention of the man ; thy 
stones were never squared, neither was the lins of the Almighty 
drawn upon thy work ; thou hast built without hope, and thy soul is 
never satisfied. Oh that my soul may descend to the depths of thy 
dwelling ; Oh that I may drink all thou hast to give, and mourn 
where none can hear, that I may write of thee, and reveal thy mind 
to the world. Thou art as the hidden mystery of life, all flesh fears 
thy bosom, and none are willing to dwell with thee and know thy 
ways. Thou art forsaken of hope, thy sun hath gone down, and thy 
lamp is extinguished ; thy candlestick is removed from the pillars of 
thine house, thou art in darkness, and the worlds know thee not : hold 
fast on my hand while thy strength doth remain, lead me downward 
to the lowest hell, and I will speak with the prisoners there, and 
those that have been alive in thee since the foundations of the world. 
Thou habitation of sinners ! I fear not thy gates nor thy lowest pit. 
I have been with thee from my youth, and have known all thy ways ; 
the Lord will set me free from thine iron bands, and many will he 
release with me. Thy mind shall pass as a shadow from the earth, 
and the Lord will discover thy nakedness to all the world ; thou shalt 
be ashamed of thy deception : priests have gone up and down in thy 
name, frightening people with the shadow of thy cause. Thej' knew 
thee not, they have won gold in thy name ; in thy presence they have 
scourged the captives, and bound those that were free, they are the 
last that shall mourn in thee, they shall weep and be still, fo* the 
Lord will set all thy captives free, and the priest shall be without 
tribute or fee any more. 

Thou art the habitation of the afflicted ; thou art appointed for a 
time, and then thou art not to those that mourn. The sun of right- 
eousness has come from heaven to destroy thy gates and burst thy 
bonds, and free those that are in prison within thy walls. Thou art 
deception, and reality is not in thy ways ; thou hast become the 
priest's garment to frighten the world from sin, but love hath appear- 
ed before thee, and hope hath established her feet in the earth. She 
hath gone upward for a little season, but she will return with the 
flocks of Israel in her bosom, and her servant Jacob at her breast. 
She will put thee to flight with the brightness of her wings, and sing 
a pleasant song to those within thy prison doors. Thou art the dread 
and fear of death, thy dwelling is dark as the grave, and many have 
made their tomb in thee ; but they shall hear the voice of God's ever- 
lasting truth, and thou shalt be conquere dby the servants of God, 
and to those that believe thy dwelling shall be no more. 



[ 320 ] 

March 4th, 1835. 

FAIT H. 

Faitii, thou art the eye of the mind, the spring of action, the 
oldest in existence, — the life of man, and the mind of God. Thou 
art clothed with the sun : by thee the moon doth cast off her gar- 
ments, and is clothed anew. By thee the planets move in the at- 
mosphere, and the constellations of heaven are still. By thee the 
sun doth rise and set : the shadow comes and goes at thy command. 
By thee the tempests rise and fall, and all the waves of the sea obey 
thy name. By thee the rains descend and the grass springs upward : 
the garden is implanted in thy breast, and every rose and flower is 
set by thee. The earth is concealed in thy bosom, and covered 
with a mantle, till thou unfoldest thy vesture and showest thyself 
naked to the mind. Thou art as the moon and stars by night : the 
righteous are illuminated by thy lamps till they come to the perfect 
day. Thou art a light to the feet of the righteous ; and those that 
walk by thee place their feet in safety through the dark watches of 
the night. Thou art never still : thou art ever increasing or de- 
creasing the abilities of the soul. Thou art the hand of God, by 
whom the line was drawn, and the earth arose from still waters, or 
an inactive mind. Thou art the line of the comets in the heavens, 
the pathway of the sun, the varying courses of the moon, and the 
bounds of the sea. The tide ebbs and flows by thee, and its 
coming an t d going despise the king's command. Thou liftest up 
the mountains from the depths of the sea. Thou commandest our 
sorrows to remove and be seen no more. Thou callest the bud from 
the tree. In the change of the atmosphere life in the root adheres 
to thy calls, and springeth upward from the ground. Thou biddest 
the infant move his hand ; he spreadeth out his arm by thee, and 
obtains the prize thou biddest him seek. Thou art with the aged 
down to death ; thou waftest his soul beyond the grave, while here 
the trembling body still remains. Thou hast provided the unseen 
habitation for the just, and compellest the soul to believe there is a 
rest for the mind of man. Thou dwellest in secret, but thy deeds 
are naked to all the earth, and none can clothe them with a cover, 
or hide thee in the cloud that thou art unseen by the human eye. 
Thou bearest up the cloud upon the wings of the wind, and the 
moving cloud in the atmosphere is a shadow of thee, — an indisputa- 
ble evidence of thy name. Thy rest is in the mind : when thou hast 
builded thy house thou enterest into rest, and none but thine own 
can dwell with thee. Thou art immortal unto man, — the life of the 



33$ ACTING PRINCIPLES OF LIFE. 

soul that never was extinguished : thy light never goeth out : thou 
art the conqueror of Despair, ana changest the midnight watch into 
noon-day. Thou art the way of the righteous, the stumbling-stone 
of the wicked, and the everlasting recompence of the just. Thou 
judgest by thine own might ; thou measurest unto man, and recallest 
again for that thou hast given. Thou coverest thyself as with seven 
garments in life ; seven nights are contained within thy span. Thou 
art the light of seven days : by thee the worlds were builded and 
the Deity is at rest. Thou art the Spirit of God given unto man, — 
the light, strength, power, might, and glory of his days, whereby 
he may do all his work. Thou sittest as on the highest hills below 
the sun : the moon and stars set and rise in thy presence : king, 
doms fall and change by thee. Thou recordest every birth as in a 
book : the records of all living are in tlry bosom, and the righteous 
read the deeds of the Creation there. Thy heart is hard to find ; 
it is as lost silver to the wicked, — as gold hid in the bowels of the 
earth. Thou clothest thyself as with a man, and the maiden 
flatters to deceive, for thou art not within the covering of these, thy 
clothing is the mind of the righteous. The bosom of maidens is 
not thy dwelling-place, and thou art but a deceiver to the hearts of 
wicked men. Thou hidest to bid the exalted seek; but, when 
they seek, thou art not found, for thou art not clothed with the 
earth or bodies of clay. Thou art not satisfied with the harvest 
of the field, neither is the rising wealth a store of thy joys. Thou 
art the offspring of God, the line of his direction: thou art beyond 
the grave, and present with the mind. Thou bindest together that 
which death hath strewed apart. Love is the partner of thy breast, 
and you twain are one in the deeds of the Almighty. Thou art 
known in the sea and heard in the storm; but thy abiding place 
is beyond the human eye, — the space that kings and councils never 
can command. Crowns are but dust before thee : thou vvearest 
them as a covering, and castest them down to the earth. Thou 
settest thy feet upon the wings of the wind, and fleest from na- 
tions, and buildest thy nest in Heaven above. Thou art more 
worthy to be sought than gold or precious silver. Cities are but 
as a bubble to thee ; they rise by the might of men, and are cast 
down by the breath of thy lips. Thou takest the infant into thine 
arms, and showest unto him the ways of life : by thee he moveth 
his feel, and directeth his hands to the cultivation of the ground. 
By thee he planteth a vineyard and gathereth from the vine : from 
thy hand he receiveth the wine from the grape, and is meny in 
heart : in all this he has only parted thy mantle, or unfolded the 
most extensive covering of thy mind. In all this he is not content ; 
he thirsteth again, and crieth like an infant for the greater portions 
of thy love. Thou takest hold of his infant hand, and impressest 



faith. . 331 

his infant mind by the light of the sun : thou pointest his active 
fingers to the stars, and showest him the hand of God in all the 
lights of heaven. Thou commandest his infant soul to obey all 
the impressions these engrave upon his mind : thou directest him 
to believe, by these magnificent displays, that there is a God — and 
to fear and tremble before the Builder of such an extensive frame, 
that cannot be measured by the mind of man or imitated by his 
works. Thou leavest the rising young, for a moment, with a law 
engraven upon his mind : thou hast bidden him read and practise, 
and he will see and know the event of it. Thou art the inspiration 
of the limb, and the strength of the mind. Thou hast written me- 
mory upon the heart : he soweth and he reapeth, and his joys pass 
away with the gathering in of the event of the deed. The soul is 
not content : there is a world unknown, and the mind thirsteth after 
it as the travelling pilgrim for a home. It is from whence we 
come, and happiness is not decreed this side of the return. The 
man seeth a mountain afar off: he taketh all that he hath, and re- 
moveth to build his habitation there : he has been twice disappointed ; 
but, by thee, O faith ! he removeth again : He bids adieu to the 
hope he had in former joys, and he places his feet on earth as the 
young weaned from the mother's breast ; and, after seven days 7 
journey, he reacheth the expected hill: he begins to ascend, with 
confidence that Heaven is on the height of it, and his joys are all 
concealed on the top. He ascendeth with weary steps and a heavy 
load, and beholdeth weary pilgrims leaning on a broken staff al- 
most ready to give way. Disappointment for the third time hath 
led them near to despair : Hope appeareth pale in the visage, and 
the weary soul joins the mournful few — but hath no seat of rest, no 
shade to hide his weary limbs from a scorching sun. A maiden, as 
dark as the watches of the night, ariseth like one from the tomb, 
and putteth a cup of blood to the lips of those that thirst. She covers 
them with a mantle of despair, and declareth unto them there is no 
spring of joys upon this rising hill: it is the place of the dead, and 
she watcheth over the tombs lest the wicked would enter in with 
the righteous and be at rest. She bindeth the feet of pilgrims with 
a chain, and biddeth them to stand still till these iron cords shall 
wear away. She consumeth their staves in a flame, and she is no 
more. She is Despair upon the mountain top, or the impressions 
of the mind of the exalted. The sun ariseth anew in the east, after 
a scorching day and weary despairing night ; and behold ! in the 
light of the sun, the soul beholdeth Jacob feeding his flocks upon 
the plain. The chain parts, and the soul beginneth to move again 
for the tents of Israel. Faith directs their way down a steep place, 
and this is the third time that Faith in earthly things hath deceived 
the soul. The garments of the mind become worn, and are ready 



332 ACTING PRINCIPLES OP LIFE. 

to fall to the earth as a broken vessel for want of care. The mind 
of these begins to descend the hill, but the iron hand of Despair 
hath written upon the mind a law that cannot be forgotten, and they 
return with a heavier load than when they did arise, and the remem- 
brance of sorrow is ever with them. They behold Jacob afar off in 
his tent-door : they hasten their steps for mercy, trusting salvation 
is in his ways, and that, under the shadow of his vine, they will be 
at rest. Bat he beholdeth them coming : he closeth his door, and 
sendeth messengers unto them, forbidding them the fruit of his trees, 
the waters of his well, or the grape of his vine ; and their light went 
out at ihese words before they reached the habitation of their hope ; 
and they had nothing to lean upon, for their former hope had passed 
away. And again, Jacob hailed them as with a trumpet, declaring 
unto them that they were not of his blood, nor heirs of his rest : they 
must go to the land of darkness where he had been, and where his 
offspring mourned for bread ; and he gave unto them a lamp, and 
directed their way ; and Faith showed unto them a city afar off, 
where the righteous did dwell, and he strengthened their limbs and 
bade them move forward for the gates of the city, and he would em- 
brace them there. With weary and with broken minds, — the 
memory of disappointments and increasing sorrows, — they moved 
along: they drank of the cup of blood that Despair had given them : 
it is the life of former days ; and, with repeated - sorrows, and with 
one accord, they travelled for the city of their rest. Hope pro- 
gressed before them a hand's-breadth : She could not be overtaken 
nor commanded to stand still. They drew near the gates of the 
city, and saw the king sitting in the gates. He hailed them with a 
pleasant sound, and they made haste to the city of a great king. 
They cast down their burdens before him, and prayed for a crumb 
of bread, and a drop of cold water to quench their thirst. He 
said he had not these things to give : the meat of his household 
was measured b)' God above, and he had nought to give unto 
those that were hungry or athirst. He called them, to inquire of 
them of a far country that he knew not of, for his household began 
to be in want, and he was taking thought to remove. They in- 
formed him that Despair was on the highest hills on the earth : 
the dead are buried there, and she inherits the tombs. And he gave 
his crown unto them, and bade them travel to a far country east- 
ward, and tell the inhabitants that they were sent by a great and 
mighty king, to seek for rest for the kings that are in the earth ; 
and, seeing the crown, ye shall obtain favour : and return, and ye 
shall go with me, and we will enter into the city of strangers ; and 
ye shall serve, and I will rule and give you meat. And they took 
the crown out of the king's hand as the hope of treasure, and tra- 
velled away towards the rising sun ; and Faith was as a lamp burn- 



FAITH. 333 

ing before their eyes, and Hope walked with Faith as a maiden in 
the hand of her lover ; and the mind of the weary bore the crown 
of the great king upon their shoulders. But Jordan came in their 
way, and Faith and Hope stepped over before them ; but they could 
not pass the baptizing stream with the crown of a king upon them ; 
but they cast it into the waters, and, as a stone in the sea, it was 
lost and seen no more. Hope waited for them on the farther banks 
of Jordan, but Faith passed away, and the light of the pilgrims was 
extinguished on Jordan's shore : the crown was lost, and Hope also 
vanished from their sight. Five disappointments were now to bear : 
the way was closed up before them, and man was alone. Here 
they parted, and every one went his own way, like sheep in the 
wilderness or children in the dark : like the flock without the shep- 
herd, they had no communion nor guide ; and here society doth 
end. And life came unto me alone, (for I am one of these,) and 
Faith arose out of Jordan as a sun from deep waters, and stood over 
my head. The hand of God came down from Heaven ; and, as a 
father assisteth the child over the water-brook, so did the Builder 
of Earth and Heaven, by his love, set my soul over the troubled 
stream : it is never still by day, nor resteth by night. And when I 
was left alone, I saw that I was the workmanship of God, and I was 
not made the servant of kings, to bear the crown on my shoulders 
that is an honour to their head. And Hope, as a maiden, took hold 
of my left hand ; and Faith, as a bridegroom, of my right ; and 
Love, as the morning, was before mine eyes ; and I travelled east- 
ward for the space of one day, and I rested by night under the 
shade of a vine that Jacob had set in the earth, and my companions 
with me. Through the night we all tarried and slept ; but, when 
the morning arose, I thought I was in Heaven : My mind was at 
rest, and, as the child, I rose up to play. I drank freely of the wine 
of the grapes, and [ partook of them, and I hungered or was thirsty no 
more. But I saw Jacob coming with his flocks into the plain where 
the vine grew, and Faith said unto me : — We must arise, for Jacob 
cometh here, and he is heir of all these things. And the sixth 
trouble had come upon me, and I was exceeding sorrowful, be- 
cause I had to rise from my rest and flee away. And Faith put a 
staff of gold in my hand, and bade me travel whithersoever 1 would 
till my feet did enter into rest ; and Hope, as a dove, spread out her 
wings and fled upward, till I saw her no more in the heavens above. 
A cloud received her of a light cast, and she was no more. Faith 
divided into two parts, — the one on the right hand and the other on 
the left, — and walked away. The one on the left hand is to lead 
the mind into earthly things ; the other, on the right, to Heaven and 
God above ; and these twain, as one, had been joined together, 
leading my soul through earthly things : But, until now, I knew it 



334 ACTING PRINCIPLES OF LIFE. 

not. And I beheld myself as one alone on a mighty plain or deep 
waters, for I feared Jacob as a thief that had partaken of his vine. 
And the billow arose, and the winds blew, and they wafted my soul 
whithersoever they would, and I was like a leaf driven by the wind. 
I was without direction ; and my daily joys were like a bubble on 
the waters, broken by the wind or the breath of him I knew not ; 
and I have returned to nothing, from whence I came ; and Faith 
hath led me here to tell me that man is nothing in body or in soul, 
but God is all in and out of him, now and for ever ; and this is the 
seventh day, the end of nights. Immortal and eternal rest, hers 
desire ceaseth, and sorrows are no more. 






IMMORTALITY. 

Immortality, thou art without beginning of days, thine end is 
not, thou art forever, thou art the name of our Lord below the sun, 
the Deity is with thee, and thou art one with God ; thou hast no abid- 
ing place in any form of clay; these fall and rise as the sun, but unto 
changes thou art unknown. Thou art the life of man that passeth 
not away: despair is in thine arms, and love hath fast hold on thy 
naked breast ; thy feet standeth in the midst of the flame, thou hold- 
est fast on the wicked, thou numberest their groans with a pen. and 
with their sighs thou dost increase the flame. Thou keepest the 
prison door, thou doth receive and release since ever a living soul 
was breathed into man. Thou art the habitation of the Jews, thou 
hast covered the head of their kings with a mantle ; none can rend 
the veil and place them into dominion but thou alone. The saints 
are in thine hands, thou leadest their spirit as children in the present 
time, thou secretest their dwelling that they shall not be slain by the 
iron hands of death. The prophets partake with thee at thy table, 
the blood of the ancients are in thy treasures, thou hast gall and 
wormwood to impart to the world ; thou art the treasure of sorrows 
that are past, thou hast a garment for the poor, and bread for the 
hungry, wine for them that thirst, and the weary draw at thy breast. 
Death is an arrow from thy bow, thou conquerest kings and princes 
in thy name, and leadest crowns captive down to the grave ; thou art 
higher than the sun, deeper than the heart of the earth. Thou 
compassest the atmosphere round about ; thou art the direction of 
the soul, and the bread of life. Thou art the treasures of God, his 
own habitation, and his name dwelleth there ; thou art where the 
world never was, thou art. the spirit of all things before existence 



IMMORTALITY. 335 

appeareth unto man. Thou placedst the stars in the firmament hy 
thy right hand, and badest them never vary from their course. Thou 
art the mother of mortality, thou brought est forth where nothing was ; 
by thee we die and live again. The earth is immortal in her course, 
the planets never change their direction, the sun hath received thy 
decree to ever shine on the earth ; thou coverest with a cloud, and 
takest thy garments from the sun. All thou doest is forever, be- 
cause thou art to man an endless life; thou hast clothed man with 
a garment of clay, and whispered to him in the hearing of the ear. 
Thou hast said unto thy son, live, and his soul obeyeth thee. Thy 
mansion is beyond the grave, and thy dwelling in heaven with the 
saints; thou buildest below the sun, and it shall not pass away; 
thou art life to the soul, and the body is thine and all that in it be ; 
thou art command, and the Deity is thy Father and thy God. Thou 
art a fair mother bearing twins, flesh and blood are the offspring of 
thy breast, thy dwelling and tabernacle below the skies; the earth 
is forever and all that on it be ; thou art the mother of the east, 
thou spreadest out the shadow of the night, and it passeth not away. 
Thou numberest time with thy engraving hand; thou hast made a 
decree with day and night, and they shall be forever. Thou art 
where the sun never rose, where moon or stars never gave light ; 
thou art the inhabitant of the mind, and the soul is thy covering for- 
evermore. Thou lookest through the windows of heaven upon 
thine own that are on the earth, and thou waterest them with dew 
from thy breast, and anointest the soul with the oil of gladness, and 
givest hope to the bosom, which is life to the mind through years to 
come. 

Thou hast ordered the paths of faith in this lower world, and 
drawn the direction of love in a line ; thou hast bound despair in 
prison and set all her captives free. Thou art the ways of life, and 
the seven coverings of the mind ; thine eye awaketh by the morning 
light; thou beholdest the western hills ; thou sendest love abroad as 
a messenger to those that are lost, and this fair one to comfort those 
that mourn. I behold her coming, her footsteps are on the sea, the 
sun of righteousness is in her bosom, and his joys are extending to 
the western hills; she travelleth all the night, and is not weary by 
the rising sun. The ways of her feet are as cords of silver, and her 
footsteps as drops of fine gold ; life is written on her forehead ; she 
covereth it with her right hand, she biddeth her suns arise and shine 
to the eastern shore. She saith come, and the hills tremble ; Zion 
and Horeb do bow beneath her feet ; she sinketh them in the sea. 
The ways of men are equal, and she biddeth them arise and behold 
the coming of their God. She is as one forsaken of men ; as a maid 
that seeketh for a lover, she is walking alone. And I hid myself in 
the cave of the hill, and fled to the by places in the rocks ; for I 



336 ACTING PRINCIPLES OF LIFE. 

feared the steps of her feet, and feared that she was God that had 
come to take the world away. And she hailed me with a trumpet, 
and I saw I was not hid from her eyes ; and though I feared death, 
her voice did pursue, and I saw there was no hiding place for man 
from the judgments of God, and I returned in the presence of the 
world. And she clothed me with sorrow, saying, I must live and 
place my feet in hell with immortality and eternal life, and my 
tongue should tell the afflictions of my soul, and write of the ways 
of truth to the nations of the world. And love embraced me with 
a smile, that had been long afflicted ; and she gave me wine from 
her bosom, and the oil of gladness from her breast ; and her heart 
was naked before mine eyes, and she bid me enjoy all things here 
below, and weep for these that mourn, and the dead arise and the 
worlds are comforted with the blessings of God. I saw all things 
as in a moment of time, and I reached my hand unto them to par- 
take, and they fled as a shadow before mine eyes, and I wept before 
her, and said, she had deceived me with her tongue ; and all my 
joys turned into sorrow, and she said unto me, these are immortal 
and eternal, and sisters to the joys of man. She turned her face 
eastward and bid me come ; I saw I was alone, for all flesh had fled 
at her presence when her sun shone on the earth. And I saw her 
footsteps were marked from the western hills to the eastern skies, 
and she rose upon the wind and rode on the cloud, and I saw her no 
more. I had thought she had come with the Saviour in her bosom 
to leave the world no more ; and I looked downward on the sea, but 
1 saw not in deep waters, the lights had departed from the skies, and 
I was deceived with love, and immortality was unseen by me. I 
was as the child without the parent, as the lost without the shepherd, 
as the weary man without the Lord. And there was silence in hea- 
ven and on earth for the space of three days and three nights. And 
the dead arose from the tomb, and walked after me to the borders of 
the sea, and they became equal with me ; and I saw Jacob embrace 
his young, and their flocks to follow them. And the sun that had 
gone down arose in the eastern sky, and love and immortality came 
unto me as one, and reached one hand to those that had been dead, 
and one hand to these that were living, and confirmed their stay 
with the living and the dead ; and unnumbered angels followed them 
on dove's wings, and I knew them I had ever known, and sealed my 
covenants with immortality and eternal life. And there was a way 
for all men under heaven. The hills and the mountains had passed 
away. And we placed our feet on the billows of the sea; the trum- 
pet blew aloud and maidens sang, the harp of David was in tune, 
and there is life on earth without end now and forever. 



[ 337 ] 

March 6th, 1835. 
LIFE. 

Life, thou art the ways of man, and the child of God. God hath 
clothed thee with his own dwelling, he hath given thee garments of 
many colours, he hath made thy feet to walk abroad and return to 
his own dwelling. He hath placed a crown on thy head and thrown 
it down to earth. In thy name he hath built great cities, and con- 
sumed them with fire. He hath caused thee to flee to the mountain 
and hide in the by places of the rocks, to shun his name. He hath 
pursued thee with the sword, and caused thee to fall in the battle. 
He clothed thee with a garment by the morning light, and before the 
setting sun cast thy covering into the grave. He has made thee 
mourn with the mother, and rejoice with princes in one day. He 
hath enabled thee to behold the work of his hands : he hath placed 
thee in the human eye, and drew out the heavens in thy presence : 
he has lifted up thine eyelids that thou shouldest behold the sun, and 
see in him the image of thy God. He hath placed the stars in thy 
presence without number, and shewn unto thee his wonders in the 
sea. He hath caused the fowl to flee before thee, and the fish to 
shun thy presence. He hath clothed the wild beasts with fear be- 
cause of thee, and given the shepherd's flocks to know thy name. — 
He hath mounted thee on the swif beast, and thou ridest as from place 
to place on thy own strength, as though thou hadst been borne on the 
wind. He hath wafted thee from shore to shore, over the broad 
space of the sea, in the deeds of thine own hand. Thou commandest 
and obeyest thine own name. There is none to equal thee for grief, 
and thou also art the mother of all our joys. Thou walkest swiftly 
with the young, and tremblest with these of declining years. Thou 
fleest, before thine own fears. Thou sittest as a king, and servest 
as a servant at his feet. Thou art of many coverings, the wise in 
spirit know thee not, because thou art with fools, and those that 
commit sin. Thou art alone known of God ; and all I can do with 
the lines of the pen, is but a shadow of thee. Thou wast before 
man was made, or ever the hills arose from the deep waters. It is 
beyond the measures of the man to trace the steps of thy feet, for 
he knoweth not to-day what to-morrow will bring to his mind. Thou 
pressest the maiden to thy breast to-day ; but on the morrow she iar 
put far from thee. Thou lovest to-day, that which is loathesome to 
thee in future time. Oh thou unknown one that walkest alone in the 
earth : thou art the bride of the highest, and by thee he sheweth 
himself all-powerful below the sun. Thou dreadest the storm, and 



338 ACTING PRINCIPLES OF LIFE. 

rejoicest when the calm appears. Thou closest thine eyes by the 
midnight watch, and dreamest of things to come. Thou seest visions 
of which thou canst not tell, and supplicatest thy God for rest. Thou 
art weary with travel, and art glad with the rising spring. Thou art 
the house of hope, and faith hath a habitation within thy breast. 
Love waims thy bosom as with wine, and despair is the keeper of thy 
gates. By her doth sorrow enter into thy habitation, and causeth 
all thine house to mourn. Thine eyes are as the windows of heaven, 
through these thou seest the deeds of thy Redeemer's hand. Thy 
feet are placed in the flame, and consume not away, thou dreadest 
the flame, but defiest the effect thereof to consume thy being. Thou 
art with the saints, and sorrowest with those that mourn. The earth 
is thy habitation, and thou walkest in the space of it. Thy mind fleeth 
with the cloud, and returneth with the storm. Thou feelest all mis- 
ery, and receivest all joy, but changest not. Thou art immortal 
unto man, and none can change thy covering. The mantle was made 
for thee — thou art the clothing of wisdom, and thy form is within 
this tabernacle of clay. Thou despisest no being — the Lord hath 
clothed thee with ail things, and made thy rest and everlasting dwel- 
ling ihe mind of the man. The atmosphere is before thee as a 
garden to enjoy, thou seest thine own name written in it, and thou 
art every where present with the Lord. Thou bringest forth 
wisdom, thou art a saviour unto man, and the child is at rest with 
thee. Thou art in heaven and in hell : with the wise and with the 
foolish : near at hand and afar off. Thou art the bride of the servants 
of the Lord — the righteous embrace thee and are at rest. Thou 
hast made a covenant with this world, and written it within my breast. 
Thou hast made the hills and the vallies the place of thy stay. The 
sun shall rise and set in thy presence forevermore. Thou callest 
the dead as with a trumpet. Thou shalt answer to thine own calls, 
and clothe thyself with that which hath already been. Thou art 
immortal to this world, and never shalt decay. Thou hast broken 
off thine hand from thy afflicting companion, death, he is going 
down to the grave to rise no more : hell is under thy feet, and heaven 
in thy right hand : thou art the dwelling of the saints and God is in 
thee. Thou art the garments of the Almighty, and thine everlasting 
dwelling is in bodies of clay. * Thou hast quickened the earth from 
the beginning, and made this world thy dwelling place ; and angels 
shall see thee there, and come down to thee. In thy name shall 
cities arise, that shall not be overthrown, and kings reign that never 
shall decay. The righteous shall shine as the sun forever and ever. Oh 
thou maiden of all my sorrows, and living spring of all my joys ! In 
thee I shall see all that hath fled away, and acquaint my soul with 
all that is past. Thou hast risen as the sun — thou hast shewn me 
thy covenants in thy right hand — thou art from the chambers of the 



Life. 839 

East and the city of God. Thou art ascending from the tomb, and 
coming down from heaven, the present and the dead shall meet in 
thee, and see a world of peace. Thou hast been afar off, but thou 
art returning to thy habitation, and where thou wast before man was 
made or the worlds began. Thou art clothed with all sensibility — 
thou mournest with the wicked, and rejoicest with the righteous, — thy 
feet have found the habitation of rest for all the sons and daughters 
of men. Thou hast clothed thyself the second time with thy first- 
born, and hast made a covenant with him to abide forever — man is 
thy tabernacle and house of clay, thou wilt be seen in all his limbs, 
bright in all his eyes, extensive hearing in his ears, — thou wilt taste 
of the vine on his tongue, and in his soul within thou shalt know 
the pleasures of his God. Thou immortal one ! thou hast made the 
earth thy dwelling, and the soul of man thy hiding place — thou wilt 
be seen in all his limbs, his feet shall be swift in the race, and his 
arm strong in the battle — his tongue shall declare thy ways, and his 
pen mark down the steps of thy'feet. Thou movest forever, and 
increasest thy name by wisdom and understanding : these are as 
twins of thy breast ; they draw out the line from thee that cannot 
be broken, and build that which will never pass away. Thou art 
the mother of visibility. Thou enjoyest the sea and the land. 
Heaven and earth are drawn out in lines for thee, by thy Redeemer's 
hand : thou hast been sorrowful, but thou art comforted. The Lord 
saw thee alone, and embraced thee with his love — he hath entered 
into covenant with thee before the worlds begun, and sworn by his 
righteousness thou never shalt decay. He has stripped thee naked, 
and clothed thee again, — he hath cast thy garments into the tomb, 
and clothed thee anew. Thou art the companion of God ; by thee 
he sheweth himself to all the kingdoms and nations of the world. 
He hath closed up the tomb, — thy feet shall never enter there — the 
sea shall not receive thy body, neither shalt thou flee from the earth 
any more. Thou art heaven for the soul to enjoy, and hell for the 
wicked to fear, — all the ways of the Lord are with thee, and 
thou art with my soul forever. The sea was made for thy feet — the 
cloud as shadows of thy delight, and the earth the habitation of thy 
everlasting rest. Thou feedest with the shepherd, and rejoicest with 
the young. Wisdom and understanding are the pillars of thy feet, 
thou bowest down thy breast unto them, and cheerest the little ones 
that are on the earth. The moon is thine evening shade, the plan- 
ets rise and set before thee ; thine eyes are filled with all things thai 
God hath made. Faith with thee enjoys a perfect rest : she hath 
entered into the habitation that passeth not away ; by her the sun 
doth rise and set, and all things move before thy seeing eyesr Thou 
beholdest afar oft' and callest home to thy bosom those that are 
astray. Thou connectest by love these scattered limbs of thine, 
w2 



340 ACTING PRINCIPLES OF LIFE* 

that are spread abroad in (he earth, into one body : thou art the 
perfect image of our God, and by thy sensibility the Redeemer of 
the whole world. Thou hast come from God to change thy gar- 
ments no more : he hath clothed thee with a mantle that will not 
pass away, that thy name may be establised forever, thou Saviour 
and the joys of men, 



DEATH. 

Death, thou art the coverings of this wicked world ; the Deity 
hideth his name in thee, and the whole earth trembles because of 
thy name : thou art the gates of hell, and many go in by thee that 
see no release. By thee hath Jacob fallen asleep, and the pro- 
phets inherit the tomb. Life is concealed within thy garments, and 
the world know it not ; thou hast made the grave the hiding place of 
men, and cast their bodies into everlasting sleep. Thou walkest in 
darkness at noon-day ; thou art the father of diseases, and the sword 
is secreted within thy breast ; thou slayest and none can make alive 
again : thou hast clothed the whole earth with fear as with a mantle, 
and hidest thy footsteps in the dark. Thou takest from man the 
light of his eyes, thou dullest the hearing of his ears and layest him 
prostrate on the ground ; thou biddest his active hands be still, and 
all his limbs obey thy call. 

Thy hand is upon all living, thou king of terrors ! Both bird and 
beast doth fear thy name : thou hast made the bodies of men as one 
of these, and swallowed them up in thy bosom, or cast the living 
into the grave. Thine hand spareth not the young, neither dost 
thou withhold thy hand for the crying of children, or the mother's 
tears. Kings bow down before thee, and princes come at thy com- 
mand : thou sealest up the stars from the eyes of men, and spreadest 
a dark mantle over the sun; thou wraps life in a garment, and 
hidest her from the human eye. Thy ways are unknown unto the 
world ; thou art seen and heard, but the measures of thy days re- 
main in darkness to the sons and daughters of men. Thou hast no 
respect to time nor age ; all flesh is before thee as the grass before 
the mower, that knoweth not the appointed time to fall. Thou hast 
followed man into this world, thou hast slain him at noon-day and 
cast him into the grave ; thou hast taken the parent's hands from 
the young, and caused the widow's eyes to weep with tears. Thou 
hast clothed all nations with fear, and cast the righteous that were 
of old into the grave. 



DEATH. 341 

The earth loudly tells of thee, thy name is written on every hill, 
and in almost every valley in all the earth, the memorials of thine 
hands arise. The sea is not free from thine offspring, thou hast 
stained the waves with blood ; but thou hast not seen it is yet 
enough ; thou hast drawn out the sword to slay, nor will thine hand 
soon abate ; the nations shall know thine hand as a thorn, and the 
heart of the living shall be pierced through. Thou art in the court 
of kings and those that make war; thou art the terrors of life, and 
the tombs of the dead: the sea is satisfied with the rivers, but the 
grave is not yet filled up. Thou committest the living to the heart of 
the earth ; the righteous hath fallen asleep in thee ; thou art the 
terrors of the Almighty sent abroad in the earth. Life is the first- 
born of God, but thou followest with a weapon all the day, and 
overtakest her by the rising sun. Thou castest a dark mantle over 
her eyes, and hidest her in the tomb, that she can see no more. 
Thou hast made the earth her covering, and her name to be written 
on the tombs of thy memorials forever and ever. But, Oh death, 
thou hast a master, and life hath fled where thou canst never come ; 
she hath put disease to defiance and written her name with God, 
she is where thou canst not slay, thou dark and conquered servant of 
the Lord, thou hast been a deceiver of men •, hell is secreted in thy 
bosom, but life hath descended into all thy hidden treasures and will 
expose thee naked to the world. Thou art conquered, and all thine 
arrows are put to defiance ; life hath ascended upward where thine 
iron hand can never come ; thou art an inhabitant of the earth, the 
bride of the wicked, and sinners fall asleep in thine arms. 

Thou hast come from God to terrify my soul with fear, and put 
my sins away. Thou art the father of sinners, and the increase of 
their loins ; it is thy hidden name in the flower of the field, the fruit 
of the tree, the rose of the garden, in flesh and blood that is before 
our eyes ; but all thy hidden treasure is known. The Lord hath 
given the key of mysteries to the mind of man ; by him whom thou 
hast conquered thy feet shall be bound and cast into hell, for thou 
hast sorely afflicted the earth ; thy name is blotted out under hea- 
ven, and all that sleep in thee shall rise again. The body is thy 
prey, and with this painful covering of clay thou affrightest the 
mind of frail and trembling man, but thy terrors shall be erased 
from the mind, and thy name unknown under heaven. And life 
shall arise as a maiden from the tomb, clothed in the garments of 
a queen, and the presence of the Almighty shall be upon her for- 
ever, and the visage and visions of everlasting life shall be engra- 
ven on her breast with letters of blood : and the memory of the tomb 
shall be forever, but the grave shall be without inhabitants, as the 
hollow and empty walls of a house where the living is no more. 
AH that is dead shall live, and all that are lost shall be found, and 
w 3 



342 ACTING PRINCIPLES OF LIFE. 

every sinner and every saint shall know the Lord, the unrighteous 
forsake his sins and live. Life hath descended with great power, 
she is as the army of a king, her name is recorded in the standing 
castle in heaven with God to remain forever. She taketh her ser- 
vants by the hand, she leadeth them through the chambers of death 
to the windows of everlasting light, and they shall stand in the pre- 
sence of God forever. She hath made the earth the unchanging 
pillar of her feet, -her fingers are amic'st the stars of heaven : she 
placeth them in our eyes as at the beginning; in them we see the 
everlasting works of God. She upholdeth the righteous in her right 
hand, and showeth them afar off; she maketh them to drink of this 
world, and taste of the worlds to come ; she clothes them with hope, 
and placeth faith within the vesture, and they walk beyond the eyes 
of death from the rising to the setting sun. Oh death, she hath 
made thy deeds to be in vain unto them, and thy name altogether 
nothing before them, she hath unclothed them from the fear of thine 
arrows, they walk naked before thee and fear thee not ; they set 
their feet on the tombs of the dead, and look upward ; they are un- 
known to the gates of hell, and the grave refuses to take their spirit 
in. Thy kingdom is lost, thine hands are bound ; thou hast parta- 
ken of blood all thy days, and thy feasts have been the bodies of the 
dead. Thy mantle is rent as the cloud parted in twain ; thou art 
but a shadow of things to come, the terrors of life and the paths of 
the wicked. Kings and princes are not at rest with thee, and with- 
in thy gates there is no peace. The dead are not satisfied with thy 
mansion, they are waiting for the sound of a trumpet to rise again 
and reign triumphant over thee ; thou art the terrors of the Almigh- 
thy name ceaseth with the deeds of sin, and with the soul of the 
righteous thou art no more. 



March 11th, 1834. 
RELIGION. 

Religion, thou hast dove's eyes, thou lookest with pity on the 
world, and mournest for those that are lost. Thou art the ways of 
the righteous, the laws of life, and the paths of the afflicted. Thou 
art the comfort of the friendless, and oil to those that mourn : all 
sorrows are written in thy name — hell consumeth at thy feet ; but 
thou wasteth not away. Heaven is present with thee, the hand of 
Omnipotence leadeth thee, and thou walkest in safety through the 
night. The oil in thy vessel never wasteth away ; thou hast a 






RELIGION. 343 

burning and continuing light. Hell giveth thee understanding ; and 
the flame of it lighteth thy whole heart. Hell is the fear of the 
Almighty, present and increasing pain. Wisdom is on thy right 
hand, and increaseth thy joys forever more. The sun is her mantle, 
and the spirit of the Almighty is at rest within her gates : her whole 
house is filled with his presence, and her heart rejoiceth in God her 
saviour, Religion, thou art the heir of the courts of wisdom, and 
none dvvelleth with thee but the sons and daughters of the highest. 
Thou art the habitation of God below the sun : he keepeth thy whole 
house in order, and hath given wisdom to remain with thee. She 
builds her house upon seven pillars ; her lines, squares and cubits, 
are within her gates ; she weighs the mountains in a scale, and com. 
passeth these a with a line ; her guests are a household of virtue, and 
her walls do arise to save those that were of old from the tempest 
and the lion of the wood. David and Solomon are within her gates ; 
she is building the house of the Lord, but the kings and princes of 
nations know it not. She hath mourned with the dove many days 
on the hill of Zion, but Religion hath come to her breast ; she is no 
more alone. Religion and wisdom are in covenant, and are reaching 
out a hand to restore the world. Wisdom is active with the pen, and 
penetrating in thought ; she draweth the line, and buildeth upward. 
Abraham squareth the stone, and Moses bindeth together. She 
weigheth all in a balance, and trieth her servants in a scale ; she 
spreadeth out her hands as the wings of a dove, and gatherelh those 
that are far away ; she hideth in the rock in safety ; she ariseth by 
the morning light, and buildeth her towers of hewn stone ; she 
buildeth her cities on a rock, and her castles on the sea. The name 
of pride cannot pass them by, nor enter into the cities of our God. 
Her hands hold the balance ; she trieth the hypocrite as with fire, 
and feeds her little ones with the milk of her breast. Religion is 
the order of her days, and she giveth wine to the weary soul. She 
hath planted a vineyard in a very fruitful field, and planted her 
trees upon the hillside. Even Zion beareth them, and Sinai and 
Horeb do bow at her feet. She hath room for the feet of strangers. 
Jordan proceedeth as from her bosom, and spreadeth herself to all 
the nations of the woyld. The windows of wisdom are as the Jeru- 
salem of our God, burnished by the rising sun : her flocks are as the 
stars of heaven, and her Shepherds Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob 
that were of old: her guest beareth twins, and she increaseth in the 
earth. Religion is a living spring within her walls ; the weary 
partake and are at rest: her wine is ever new; she inviteth fstran- 
gers to the table of the Lord, and feedeth them with bread from 
heaven. She is a city below the sun, built on Zion, and Horeb 
mourns at her feet. She surpasseth all that is gone ; she bringeth 
home the living, and the dead, together at her flowing breast ; she 



344 ACTING PRINCIPLES OF LIFE, 

sendeth none abroad, never to return : her servants are as the rising 
and setting sun, they ever return from whence they come, and shine 
as the fixed stars of heaven for ever and ever. She spreadeth her 
hands abroad in the secret watches of the night, while her spirit 
resteth in the rock in safety, and compasseth kings and kingdoms 
with walls they never can subdue. The Lord hath crowned her 
with life, and made religion to be the activity of her hands ; she 
cannot be bound with a chain nor slain with a sword. The Lord 
hath made her course clear to all nations, as the streams of living 
water, that crowns nor princes cannot subdue. She cannot be 
obstructed with a wall, nor her feet cast within the prison doors ; 
she is the servant of the Lord ; she rideth on dove's wings, and 
looketh down on all the inhabitants of the world ; her breasts drop 
with blood that was of old : it floweth to the tombs of Israel. The 
dead awake at the rushing of the floods of it, for it covereth the 
whole earth. It is as wine for those that are thirsty, and she giveth 
her blessings without a price. She careth for the young as the 
mother that beareth twins ; she gathereth them under the shadow 
of her wings, and saveth them from the gates of hell ; she feedeth 
them with the oil of the olive, and speaketh peace to her own. She 
weepeth over Jerusalem, as the bridegroom over the tomb of his 
beloved ; her voice is heard afar off, as mighty waters troubled with 
a storm ; she re-buildeth, and mourneth for that which is to come ; 
she gathereth in, and seeketh again for that which is lost : her 
soul is like the bosom of the sea, that drinketh in all the rivers of 
the world ; her store is never full, neither doth her wine decay. 
She hath placed religion in the breast of man ; she hath given inspi- 
ration to the tongue, to declare her wa)'s ; she hath a beginning in 
life, but her end shall not be. She is in league and covenants with 
God, that can never pass away ; she has come to make this earth 
her dwelling place, to set her feet upon the hills, and awake the 
dead with a doleful sound. The tomb shall groan with distress, and 
the dead shall arise at her call and come away. The bosom of the 
earth shall be closed up to receive her loving servants no more. 
Blessed is the man that is in love with wisdom, for she sendeth reli- 
gion to his breast, and her lamp lighteth his whole house, and he 
walketh in the light of it forever and ever. Wisdom becometh his 
bride, and they lie down together in the chamber of joys, and he 
draweth wine from her breast forever ; he placeth his feet upon a 
rock by the morning light, and he walketh in safety all the day, and 
when the sun setteth he slideth not with his feet, for his soul waiteth 
for her that hath gone abroad in the garden of the Lord, and moveth 
not until her return. His oil doth flow as rivers, and his stores do 
feed the poor; he partaketh and knoweth no want ; his cup is full, 
and sorrow hath fled from his breast ; he is able to comfort all he 



INFIDELITY. 345 

«eeth, and direct the stranger on his way to the city of abode, wheie 
the feet go no more out, and the Lord maketh a lasting covenant 
with his own. His joys increase by the morning light, and every 
rising sun renews his joy ; his laws are written within, where storms 
can never come, nor the hand of the wicked blot out the laws of the 
Lord. His vine beareth and faileth not ; his trees cast their figs in 
due season, and the pomegranate passeth not away ; his flocks rest in 
safety, and he divideth the fleece with the poor; he delighteth in 
the naked and the hungry ; he calleth them into his habitation ; he 
clothes with a smile, and feedeth with his love; his eyes cast a 
tear upon the haughty, and he remembereth them no more. His 
groans cease in one day, and sorrow departeth from his breast : 
<3eath fleeth as a shadow before him, and his soul is unknown to the 
grave ^ he setteth his feet upon the tombs, and seeth his God above : 
the billows of the sea roll beneath his feet, and he is not moved ; he 
resteth in the storm, and loud thunders awake him not. The light- 
ning in his eyes are as the rays of the morning ; in these he sees 
the wonders of his God. He liveth without fear, and the dread of 
hell is far from him ; he is led by the hand of wisdom, and religion 
is at home within his breast. His going out and coming in are as 
the rising and setting sun, bis deeds are a light to the world. He 
setteth his feet in deep rivers, and they pass away before him ; and 
at his command, the roaring of the tempestuous gulphs are still. 
He beholds all living before the rising sun, and counteth their foot- 
steps by the morning light. He writeth the ways of life in a book, 
and giveth unto those that believe not the Lord. He awaketh death 
from sleep by his word, and calleth up captivity to judgment, and sets 
the prisoners free. These are the deeds of religion and wisdom, 
these are the gifts of God to man ; the world may look upon them, 
Relieve, practice, and center into rest. 



INFIDELITY. 

Infidelity, thou art as the stone never squared. The line hath 
not been drawn upon thee, nor the name of the Almighty written 
there. The Lord is not alone : the angels of Heaven bear up his 
name in the earth, and the spirit of the saints is within his breast. 
Deeds of old are recorded on the tables of his love, and immortality 
is in his right hand. Love is his continuing friend, and Faith read- 
eth his name as in a book, and Hope leadeth us to the bosom of the 
Lord. But, Infidelity, thou knowest not these things : thou art as 
the building unfinished, as the tomb without the dead : thou art as 



346 ACTING PRINCIPLES OF LIFE. 

the tombstone of nothing, for all thou hast passeth away. Thou art 
unknown to Heaven or Hell : thou deniest wisdom her appointed 
place, and livest as the brutal inhabiter of the earth. Hope resideth 
not with thee : thy love is as a bubble broken by the wind, for all 
thou seest passeth away. Thou hast no faith to perform thy work, 
and thy soul actuates thy person as the dead machine driven by the 
hands of men. Thou hast no store but the present crumb : thou 
hast no way but what the sons of men have shown unto thee : thy 
soul remains as when thou wast born of thy mother, save that thou 
hast grown strong to disbelieve and curse the Lord. Thou canst 
not account for one thing under Heaven, or reveal to thy young 
how life came into the world. Thou seest no farther than the de- 
cay of thy frame, and all thy natural hope doth perish in the earth. 
Thou art a stranger to the soul of the living, and unknown to thine 
own mind. Thou art clothed with clay, and believest not that God 
hath given shape to thy limbs. Thou art the companion of brutes, 
and led by a halter in the hand of another, like the dumb ass. 
Thou knowest not why the sun doth rise and set in thy presence ; 
neither doth the building hand of God give thee wisdom. Faith is 
a stranger to thy ways : thou art darker than Despair, for thou be- 
lievest not in thy release. Thou livest, and knowest not why ; but 
the Lord hath suffered thee to bear the sinner's name, acquaint 
thyself with death, and see no release, till God shall quicken thee 
with his presence in Hell, and put thy unbelief to flight as a shadow 
that never shall return. Thou waitest for thy immortal change, 
defying the hand of the Almighty, as the stone that knoweth not 
his name. Thou art confounded in building : thou beginnest with 
deism, and ceasest in the dark. Thou hast left the atheist to finish 
what thou hast begun : thou hast no cover to thy soul, and thy 
deeds are without immortal life. Thy building shall be as the house 
on the sand : in one hour it shall be seen no more : the dead shall 
rise, and put out thy decaying lamp. Thy name shall hide in 
darkness, and thine offspring remember thee with shame. Thy 
hand-writing shall be sealed in the dust : thy deeds shall see no 
resurrection from the dead : the moon shall cast oil* thy garments, 
and the stars of heaven despise thy name. The ancient memory of 
the Lord shall rise, and the sun shall shine on thy tomb to give thy 
children light. Thy bride hath been a harlot and a deceiver ; and 
thy children are not the heirs of Heaven. The attributes of God 
rest not with thee, nor doth the believer rest his feet within thy 
gates. Thy walls are built of the winds : the thunders cause them 
to tremble, and lightning from heaven pierces them through : theu 
hast built thy rest within a span of Hell, and death is standing at 
thy gates. Thou tremblest as a thief when judgments are in the 
earth : 'in trouble thou hast no God to call upon : Death affrights 



INFIDELITY. 347 

thy bulwarks as with a shadow, and thy walls decay as with an 
empty sound. The grave terrifies thee with darkness, and the sheet 
turneth thy visage pale. Thou art as the hindmost parts of the 
world, and all the earth is before thee as a cloud which thou canst 
not pursue ; neither canst thou measure the deeds of the righteous. 
Thine eyes are blind to foresee their end : thy nights are solitary: 
thou liest down without hope ; there is no lasting comfort in thy 
ways. Thou risest without faith, and foreseest not the wages of thy 
days, and thy soul and thou perish together in the piospects of the 
grave. Thou livest without fear, till death is upon thee. The earth 
is covered with a cloud in thine eyes, and thou hast no living di- 
rection for thy feet. Thou enjoyest not anything as the gift of God, 
but, as a thief, partakest of all as though it was thine own. The 
world itself despiseth thee, and the sinner seeth beyond thy name : 
he owneth his guilt before God, and Hope impresseth his mind that 
he shall live : Faith placeth his hands to the deeds of life : he seeth 
the income of his work, and the immortal man rejoiceth with God 
his Saviour. Infidelity ! thou unknown space to the hand of God, 
thy .mind is as deep waters before the worlds begun : no sun is 
seen in thee, neither have the stars arisen from their immortal rest. 
Thou art unknown to the Spirit of God, neither have the deeds of 
his hands been seen in thee from the foundations of the world. 
The Lord will cause light to shine upon thee, and teach thee that 
thou never wast quickened with immortal life. Thou art like the 
bubble blown up by the wind : thou knowest not thine own meas- 
ures: thou art quickly to pass away. The Lord hath made a de- 
cree, and written upon thy dwelling with his own hand — Thou shalt 
not live : thou shalt neither enjoy the bride nor the bridegroom, the 
fruit nor the flower of the tree : thou shalt not be clothed with the 
fleece, nor eat at the table of the Lord. He hath beheld thee as 
one that hath despised him : he will pour out his vengeance upon 
thy name ; he will quicken thee from unbelief, for he hath given 
thee life, but thou hast blasphemed against his name. Infidelity 
shall decay in the dust, but life shall come out of thee to deny thy 
deeds, and bury all that have been born of thee in the world. Thou 
hast seduced maidens to believe in thee, and led children captive 
down to death : thou art a denier of faith, unknown to thyself, and 
from the Most High thou art far away. He will increase the fur- 
nace for thy name's sake, and thou shalt cry as an orphan for his 
love, for thou shalt be wihtout friends, and every tongue shall be 
still to plead thy cause. The terrors of the Highest shall come 
upon thee, and the dread of Hell compass thee as the bounds of the 
sea: thou hast but a time, and thou art no more. 



348 ACTING PRINCIPLES OF LIFE. 

March 12th, 1835. 
PIETY. 

Piety, thou risest before the day, and makest thy feet clean in 
Jordan; by the light of the morning thou preparest thine household 
to walk with thee to the city of thy rest. Thou drinkest of blood 
that was of old ; it is wine to thy breast, and life to thy soul that is 
within. Thou embracest the day, and hailest life as a stranger, and 
biddest the saints welcome to thy breast. Thou numberest thy risino- 
hours, and measurest life as in a span, and knowest thou art in an 
uncertain dwelling, and thou art not willing to leave thy name empty 
as the forgotten tomb, and leave no memorial below the sun. Thy 
hands are spread abroad to gather in the summer fruit, that the 
Lord hath prepared for thee ; thou early gatherest the grape from 
the vine, and beholdest the ripening fruit ; thou extractest the vine 
from the grape, and thine house is made merr}- with the wine of thy 
love. Thou feedest thy little ones with care, and thou beholdest no 
waste in the house of the Lord. Thou art shadowed with belief, and 
thou placest thy feet by direction of the rising sun. Thou makest 
a way in the sea that cannot be forgotten, and Jordan parteth for the 
steps of thy feet. Thy remaining household that are yet unborn, 
read the lines of thine hands with delight, and pursue after thee 
— they overtake thee in the bride chamber of the Lord ; for there 
all thy daughters wed to the son of righteousness, and all thy sons 
receive in thy name. 

Piety, thou art as the memorial arisen from the tomb of the saints, — 
thy mind is in heaven with God — hope directs thy hands, and faith 
beareth thee up as on dove's wings. Thou art never weary, thy 
wine is ever new, and thou drinkest before the setting sun, and 
enterest into thy immortal rest. Thy limbs may tire below the 
heavy loads of life ; but thy mind is ever new, thou art the bride of 
the saints. Thy name is written by ages past, and thou hast come 
to enjoy the world. Thy sons were slain in the battle, and the flame 
hath consumed them ; but thou hast come to provide a place for their 
everlasting name, and call thy bleeding martyrs to arise. Thou 
will set them over kings, judges, and priests, that have sworn their 
lives away. They have sworn in the chambers of death, and in the 
courts of despair have they slain thy little ones ; but a cord shall 
bind them there, and Jehovah will close up their lips : they shall be 
silent as the tomb wherein the dead lieth. They have sworn falsely, 
and judged with an unrighteous judgment ; but the Lord will blot 
out the iniquity of their hands, and he will judge his people. 



riETY. - 349 

Piety, thy name is written in the book of life, and sealed with a 
seal to remain forever. The Judge of the Lord's people hath become 
silent as the tomb, and his eyes are closed up from the cause, and 
children shall take the crown from his head, and cast it upon the 
sands of the sea, and it shall be driven to and fro in the tempest for- 
ever. It shall no more be established in the earth ; nor the name 
of a man written on the diamonds of it: they shall grow dim in the 
eyes of all men ; as the stars covered with a cloud, they shall shine 
no more. The throne of kings shall become a highway for the feet 
of strangers ; for the Lord will rule over his people, and be their 
God. Judah shall be the garments of the Lord, and from the throne 
of Israel will he speak peace to the world. These are the paths of 
piety cast up before his eyes, and her spirit draweth near the holy 
City, and her feet shall enter there. She is crowned with love ; and 
the name of David is a precious stone on the crown of her head, 
and all Israel beholdeth it afar off. She seeketh after the lost to 
feed them with the fruit of her vine ; and invites them to walk in the 
garden of the Lord with her mind, and behold the hand of the Lord 
in the lilly of the valley and the flowers of the field. Her bright 
eyes see beyond the tomb, and behold Jacob afar off. The sun 
has arisen for her sake, her name rideth on the clouds of heaven, 
to the farthest parts of the earth. She hath placed her feet, and 
they move not : she hath found the chamber of her beloved, and 
goeth no more out into the street, to hail those pleasures that are 
passing by. Her soul hath received a new covering from the Lord 
— she dwelleth in the mind to depart no more. The flesh is an 
evidence of her building hands. She draweth her lines in darkness 
and sheweth them to the world by the rising sun. She waiteth at 
the gate for the feet of strangers, and haileth them that would pass 
her portals by : she declareth unto them there is no lasting joy 
beyond her gates, nor a rest for man without the walls of her king, 
dom — she hath become a lamp unto Jacob, and a way for the feet 
of Israel. Her house is ornamented with the deeds of her life, and 
her memorials are forever. The vine beareth in her presence : 
her flocks rest in the shade of it in safety, — the lion knoweth not 
her habitation, neither can the subtilty of the serpent enter there. 
Her house is built of hewn stone, the Lord hath given her the lines 
of it, and she hath built with her hands a habitation for the just. 



350 ACTING PRINCIPLES OF LUIf, 



IMPIETY. 



Impiety! Sloth hath closed thine eyes: The sun hath arisen on 
thy habitation, and thou sleepest as in the clouds of the night: thine 
hedges are thrown down by a stranger ; the enemy hath come into 
thy habitation, and spoileth all thy goods. 'The gates of thy city are 
open to the feet of strangers : the lion from the wood entereth there, 
and the serpent ascendeth under the pillow of thine head. Thy vine 
decayeth at the root, and the caterpillar eateth the leaves of it. Thy 
trees cease to bear for the want of cultivation, and thine enemies 
stand on Zion's top. The dove hath left thy dwelling : she found 
no place for the soles of her feet ; she hath fled to the distant hill, 
and thy drowsy eyes behold her not. Thy springs are filled with 
mire, and thine own are thirsty without water, and hunger without 
bread. There is no grape on thy vine, nor oil in thy store : thy 
servants have sold it, and secreted the price while thou slept. Thy 
gates are thrown down, and the feet of men go in and out, and des- 
pise thy name. Thy shepherds have lost thy flocks : they wander 
in a sirange land to seek their former rest. The canker hath de- 
stroyed thy garden : the flower decays for want of dew, and the rose 
withereth away. The rain descendeth not on thy fields ; another 
gathereth in thy scanty harvest, and divideth with the servants of 
the king's house. Thy maidens are in the arms of strangers, and 
their name perisheth for want of care : thy spouse hath made a co- 
venant with another, and will not be redeemed for money, nor 
bought with gold. Thou art as a stone by the way-side ; Sorrow 
aad Joy pass thee by, and thou knowest it not. Thy city is taken 
with the sword, and all thine house are captives in a foreign land. 
Thine harlots have gone to the chambers of the deceitful, and the 
sons of men deceive them in their reward. Thy laws are trodden un- 
der feet in the highways, and there are none to keep the keys of thine 
house. Thy name is clothed with everlasting shame, aud the world 
hath robbed thee of thine own : thou art poor, and hast not where- 
with to cover thy shame. The judge calleth for thee, and thou hast 
nought to answer his demand : the prison- door is open for thee, and 
thou shaltlift np thine eyes in death, and behold Piety afar off in the 
bosom of the Lord. O thou slothful one ! thou carest not for thine 
own chastity, nor mournest with the poor : thou seest not them that 
are naked of thine own house : thy sons and daughters are without 
law, and with the brute they go down to the grave. There is no 
harp in thy courts : the songs of the living are not there, nor one 
that was of old to plead thy cause. Thy feet stand in Hell, and the 
flame is near to thy soul : Wilt thou wake and come away, or canst 



LIGHT. 351 

thou sleep in these burning regions of distress ? Thine eyelids are 
fastened as with nails, and thy head lieth on an iron pillow. The 
trumpet soundeth, but thou hearest not to understand : thou raisest 
thy head for a moment to inquire the meaning of it : thou art weary 
with a moment's toil, and sleepest again. The judge calleth for 
thee : Death is at the bars of thine house, and thou must adhere to 
his calls : the grave is open ; make thy feet ready ; for thy reproach- 
ful name must enter there. Thine house shall be left desolate, 
without a hand to record thy name. Piety called within thy gates, 
and hath written these lines for thee : the Sun of Righteousness 
hath forsaken thy chambers while thou slept ; but thou knowest not 
whereunto he has fled. He rideth on doves' wings, and departelh 
in the dead watches of the night, while the sluggard and unthought- 
ful are at rest. Thy windows are closed up with the clouds of the 
east : the sun shineth no more upon thy habitation, and thy spirit is 
bound in the dark : Thou shalt cry in prison for the keeper of the 
door, and shalt not be heard : he has gone to his rest, and thou must 
abide his coming with a groan, and await his coming with many a 
mournful sigh. Thy tomb shall be covered with darkness, nor shall 
the Sun of Righteousness shine on it for ever. A fire shall be kin- 
dled within thy breast, and the doleful sounds of Hell shall be heard 
in thine ears : thou shalt call on days past that never will return ; 
neither will the hand of God come down from Heaven to comfort 
thee : Thou art a spot on the human name, — a stain that shall never 
wash away. Time shall be restored unto thee, but thy memorial 
shall be for ever : it is written in a book for all thy sons and daught- 
ers to look upon. Thy habitation is with the dead, and where devils 
weep for lost time for ever and ever. 



Makch 25th, 1835. 
LIGHT. 

Light, thou art the covering of the world, the presence of the 
highest. By thee man was made, and a sun placed within his breast 
to give light to the inner man. Thou art without and within the 
soul ; by thee the earth is discovered, and heaven, to the mind. 
By thee the plant arose from the bosom of the earth, and is clothed 
with many colours. Thou art the name of the Deity with us ; the 
bitter and the sweet grow up before thee, and unnumbered virtues 
are extracted from the ground. By thee Jacob directed his feet 
and fled from the city of revenge. By thee the sea did part, and 
thy presence made a way for the feet of Israel. Thy garments 



352 



ACTING PRINCIPLES OF LIFE. 



extend beyond the deeds of thy giver's hands, and compasseth all 
that is seen as with a mantle/ Thou art the atmosphere of life ; 
and all living move and have their being in thee. Thou art the 
way of the fish and the fowl, and the eagle spreadeth out his wings 
in thy name. Thou art within and without all vegetation ; the flower 
and the rose are formed by thee. Thou art the order of life ; thou 
art perfect in the brute, but wanting in man till all his deeds are 
accomplished, and his soul at rest with thee. Thou art in the grass, 
and the harvest of the field ; and when the little one reacheth out 
his hand to obtain the discovered prize, the direction is by thee. 
Life is not without thee, nor any thing that groweth upward below 
the sun. Thou art connected with life as the husband with the 
bride, and life and light are one in all things. 

Wisdom is the light of life, and with her she walketh always. 
Who hath seen wisdom without thee, or life without direction ? 
Hope is implanted in thy breast, and faith is the proceeds of light, 
and bringeth life into action, and the whole work of God appeareth 
visible to the eye in thee. Thou art in the eye, and in the sun and 
skies ; and when life departeth from the body light is absent also, 
and the eye is closed in the dark. 

Thou, O Light ! art the master of darkness ; but the night fol- 
loweth thee afar off, as the evil hath followed the good in life. Thy 
space is from the rising to the setting sun, and where life is thou 
art there. Thou commandest life as a trained band of servants. 
Thou art with the shepherd and his flocks, and where the Lord is 
thou art present with him. Thou art the lamp of religion, a way 
for the feet of the righteous, the direction of the hand, and the mov- 
ing of the tongue. Thou art in hell, and convincest with the flame : 
thou showest to man by conviction the error of his ways, and con- 
verteth his soul from the night. Thou fashionest in darkness and 
bringest forth to the perfect day, and clothest all thy deeds with gar- 
ments of thy love. How beautiful is the flower in thine eyes ! the 
spreading leaf doth give thee praise. By thee the mountains were 
made, and the shepherd's flock beareth twins. Thou directest the 
soul to the baptizing place: thou art as a consuming fire in the 
heart of man, and the furnace ceaseth not to burn, till sin and dark- 
ness is no more. Thou art the way of the ship in the sea, the eagle 
in the air. The subtle serpent deceiveth by thee the unenlightened 
heart of the man : by thee he is overtaken and bound with a cord, 
and for thy name he giveth up the ghost, to convince us of the extent 
of thy power. The swift beast placeth his feet by thee, and winneth 
in the race. Thou art within all living, and direct the limbs in all 
the various deeds of life, thou lightest and succeedest again, and over- 
comest the deeds- of thine own hands, and puttest away the dawn of 
the day by the rising sun. So thou dost within the soul ; and sue- 



LIGHT. 353 

ceedeth'in the child from the birth to the perfect man. Thou didst put 
darkness to flight when the worlds began, and she serveth thee for- 
ever. By thee the earth was brought into motion, and the planets 
fixed in the skies ; thou art the paths of the sun, and thou changest 
the garments of the moon to show unto man thy wondrous works. 
Thou ebbets and {lowest with the tides of the sea, by thee the billows 
rise and fall again, by thee the spreading cloud knoweth her course, 
she gathers together and extends and is no more : the clouds dis- 
solve before thee, and the rain is directed downward to the earth. 
The water-course hath found a way for her feet, and by thee the 
way of the rivers is clear to the bosom of the ssa. By thee man 
hath seen his Creator God in all his works, he hath given thee 
to the world that the earth may know thy name and see his being 
there. Thou art the way to heaven, and the communion with 
saints. By thee the lines of Jerusalem were drawn out, and by thy 
presence cast down to the earth. By thy name God hath revealed 
himself to the world, and drawn out the heavens for thy rest. Thou 
hast directed the pen to mark down the paths of the soul and the 
ways of life ; thou hast opened the prison doors and delivered the 
captive from his chains. Thou hast directed the living to the tomb, 
and become a way for the dead to rise. Thou art the bride of the 
living, and the Deity of the soul ; man is thy servant, and thou gov- 
ernest over him forever. Thou makest an end of darkness and set- 
test the sun in the skies. Thou makest thy abode with man to part 
with him no more ; thou hast clothed his spirit as with a mantle, and 
no spots of darkness shall be seen in him. By thee the worlds 
were made, and the heavens drawn out in a line, by thee the hea- 
vens and the earth were rejoined together. Thou hast sealed thy 
covenants with the earth, and made a league with man that shall not 
pass away : thou hast taken fast hold on his right hand, and given 
his soul dove's wings ; thou hast appointed his paths to the utmost 
bounds of the earth, and the farthest borders of the sea. Thou hast 
placed his feet on Zion, and by thee he beholdeth the whole earth. 
By thee the Saviour cometh, and by thee the parent of the earth is 
known. By thee is Jerusalem rebuilt, and by thee she hath a new 
name under the sun. By thee the Saviour hath seen his bride ; by 
thee he hath embraced the Church of his love ; and by thy name he 
hath sealed covenants with the earth to part no more. Time is en- 
closed in thy breast, and thou art prepared to bear twins to the sons 
and daughters of men. By thee the dead shall live, and the present 
be saved. Time will make known that which cannot otherwise be 
revealed. Thou art present with us, and art to come ; thou ridest 
on the wings of time, and secretest thyself in the garment of future 
years ; thou art the handmaid of the Lord, and showest thyself to 
the world, Thou art chaste in the court of kiDgs, and goest not 
x 






354 ACTING PRINCIPLES OF LIFE. 

into the chambers of the wicked, neither dost thou wed with the 1 
king's son. Thou art the bride of the Most High, and servest at 
the tables of the Lord, — his son is concealed in thy bosom, the Sa- 
viour of the world. In thy name he shall come to save all flesh. 
He is the word of God ; but thou art the garments of his name : 
thou hast seen him before he was born, and brought out his name 
to light below the skies. Thou art fairer than the morning, the sun 
riseth in thy bosom, and is clothed with thy garments all the day. 
The day ceaseth not where thou art. Thou hast made no covenant 
with the night, and darkness fleeth before thee as a shadow. Sin 
departeth from thy presence and is known no more, the skies own 
th3 r talents, and the grave refuseth to take thee in, neither is thy 
tomb made in the depths of the sea. Thou walkest on still waters, 
and ridest on the storm. Thou hast led crowns captive and set the 
prisoners free; thine eyes have beheld the poor at thy gates, and 
thou hast clothed them with garments of thy love. Thy name is 
written in heaven and known on earth, the beginning and the end of 
all things. Thou art present with us, the name, effects, and pres- 
ence of the everlasting God. Thou art unknown to darkness, nei- 
ther hath the sinner entered into covenant with thy ways ; thou 
waitest for him as the weeping mother for the return of her young, 
that hath gone abroad to gather flowers and is lost ; thou art in the 
wilderness seeking, thou blowest a trumpet, but he heareth not. 
He is in league with death, and she fleeth from thy presence, for 
at thy presence she must give up the ghost, or be seen no more. 
Thine eyes run down with tears for the dead: thy cheeks are as the 
pathway of waters : thou seest, but pursuest not: thou waitest as by 
the river side for those thou seekest to come unto thee. Thou hast 
been to the wood, and marked the way to Jordan with thine hands ; 
and here thou standest to heal their distresses through the baptizing* 
and cleanse our leprosy away. 



DARKNESS. 

Darkness ! thou art where the hand of God hath not been in ac- 
tion ; — like the shapeless stone, neither polished nor square. Thou 
art the mind unimproved, where the feet of a man walk without line 
or direction. There are no paths in it : he seeketh in thee after 
conviction to turn his progressing feet back to childhood again. The 
active hand of God seeth him there, and there he cannot go in 
peace to the grave. Thou art the hidden mansion of the dead, or 
those that have passed away in their sins since the worlds began. 
Their spirit is like that of the blind striving to see, and where the 
spirits of men cannot be at rest : — where a burning hell giveth light 



MERCY AND CHARITY. 355 

to the feet, and the consuming flame converteth the soul. They 
shall see relief when thy bars are broken: they are in the minds of 
men, and continne to sin till life and light lead them captive from the 
dead. Light pursueth after her captured victims, — bursts the prison- 
doors, and biddeth them to come away, unwearied with trying, 
slothful to fulfil. Continue to seek longer, and increase the flame. 
So man pursueth his self-conceited joys, till he returns to serve the 
Lord. The Lord hath not made man independent in life, neither 
hath he placed the lamp of his life in his own hands ; neither can 
man make the light of life subject to his own desires. The Lord 
hath prepared man to sacrifice to his name, but not to govern over 
his own soul. The mind is the medium between God and the per- 
son, and, when the mind goeth astray, the man is lost : he hath for- 
bidden his loving presence to shine upon the deeds of sin, but hath 
clothed them with darkness for ever. Hell ariseth about our wan- 
dering feet, to convince us we are astray, and far from Heaven 
above. The sinner's light is conviction to the soul, and Hell is a 
light to man that God hath decreed amidst the darkest night. When 
man is fully convinced of his errors, he will, through repentance, 
come out of this convicting, convincing, and converting flame, and 
resign his soul to God : and this is the full purpose of a burning and 
continuing hell in the mind. The sinning spirits are all in it that 
ever were ; but there is not a penitent but hath seen a release from 
these bonds : darkness is the space of it. The sense of man and 
God is clothed with a cloud, and man mourneth as without a cause 
till he knoweth his sins : these flames shall resign all the penitents 
of the world, and darkness shall be brought to light, and every anci- 
ent spirit arise as from the tomb, and the righteous rejoice in the 
flesh, and be comforted there: by the justifying presence of God 
their spirits shall live, and die no more. The wicked shall groan in 
the flesh, and repent before God ; for these are the operating pow- 
ers of the Highest, and the way of his revealing his love and anger 
unto man. The righteous shall fear his name, and sin no more : 
the sinner shall fear and tremble, and dread the coming of his judg- 
ments ; for all souls shall suffer in the body, and in the flesh shall 
all spirits be justified. Man is the servant at all times, — God his 
judge and lawgiver, the justifier and condemner of the soul. 



March 16th, 1835. 

MERCY AND CHARITY. 

Mercy, thou hast spread thy wings abroad : the name of the Deity 

is written upon them. Thy ways are infinite and thy life immortal 

unto man. Thou inhabitest his bosom, and thy spirit is seen in the 



35(5 ACTING PRINCIPLES OF LIFE, 

deeds of Love. Charity is thy sister, and dwelleth with thee forever, 
As streams of living water united in the soul, ye are the principles 
of the virtues of life descending from God to make your abode with 
man, and live with him forever. Mercy, thine eves do see the 
boundless pit ; thy spirit suffers with the wicked, and Charity sees a 
release from the bonds of death. Ye are the attributes of the highest, 
— the end of sorrow and the beginning of joys ; ye are ever present 
with the Lord, — the direction of his hands : ye unbind the cords in 
prison, and set the captives free ; ye are the lines of heaven and 
the direction of life. Your offspring remain not in hell. Ye are 
partakers of the bitter cup, that through your sorrows others may 
see, and the truth be revealed to those that are not yet dead in their 
sins. Ye were with God before the worlds were made, or the earth 
revealed to man. Ye erect the dwellings of the just, and enter with 
the righteous into rest. Ye measure out the measures of hell, and 
declare there is no end to these that sin. Ye bear unto us the 
decrees of God from heaven, and spread out your virtues before 
your eyes. 

Mercy, thou art our Saviour, and Charity the forgiver of our sins. 
Ye are with us in our sorrows, and with the weary enter into rest. 
Ye are the garments of the righteous, and a covert to the weary in 
the storm. Take hold of mine hands ye loving arms of God, that 
redeemeth the sinner, and callest the weary to his breast; without 
thy presence, the world is lost forever, and the captive remaineth 
in his chains. Oh ye spirits of life ! ye nee from the presence of 
angels in heaven, to the farthest sinner in the darkness of the earth ; 
ye paths that are for the feet of those that go astray, lead my soul 
to the City of God ; reveal unto me time to come, and clothe this 
world with a garment that never will decay. Ye are as angels from 
a Saviour's heart ; ye have been with God always, knowing all things 
past, present, and to come ; ye are the ways of life, ye have led 
death captive, and set the prisoners free ; ye are bread to the hungry 
and wine to those that thirst. Life is in your ways ; ye quicken the 
dead to live, and engrave your name upon him. 

Mercy is the way to peace, and Charity the forgiveness of sins : — 
by these the dead shall live ; ye are the gates of eternal life, the pil- 
lars of heaven, and the living joys ot the earth ; the light of the 
human eye, and a spirit in the mind that passeth not away : ye are 
the justified of God, whose lamp shall not decay, nor your deeds 
perish in a storm. Mercy and Charity ! sisters of my love ! oh that 
I may be led by you for ever. Your walls pass not away, neither 
do your buildings decay in a storm. Your house is budt on the pil- 
lars of wisdom, and your lamp is a burning and shining light tp the 
present world. 



357 ] 



IUDGMEN T. 

Judgment ! thou art the presence of God in the storm, — his anger 
on the seas, when the biliows, as the grave, receive the despairing 
captives there. Thou attendest the diseased on the pillow : thou 
causest the father to mourn for the son, and the mother to weep over 
her departing joys. Thou sendest thy servants in the earth : Dis- 
ease obeys thy command, and returns at thy calls. Thou openest 
the grave, and closest it again : thou turnest the sinner from his 
ways, and Mercy followeth after thee. Ye are as twins of one 
bosom: Judgment and Mercy are the proceeds of one God. — 
Judgment ! thou art the eonsuming flame of the Almighty and the 
conviction of God : thy flame goeth not out by day, neither are thy 
bars closed in the dark watches of the night. The sinner on the 
pilow numbers thy pains, and flees to Mercy as a Saviour of his 
soul. Thou art with the sword, and feared in the battle : thou lay- 
est the living on the ground, and causest the spectator to dread his 
fate. Thou art Hell to those that sin, and there is no turning thy 
feet from those to whom thou art sent. Thou teachest the fear of 
the Almighty, and tellest the living to dread thy ways. Thou art 
the gates of Hell, and all the earth are passing thy portals through. 
Mercy is beyond thy ways : thou baptizest, and Mercy receives 
thine offerings cleansed in thine hands : Thou art the shadow of the 
hand of God upon the earth, and none can see beyond thy ways but 
those that know thy name. Thou art wearisome to the soul and 
the gate to everlasting rest : all tfre inhabiters of the earth are one, 
beyond thy ways. Thou consumest pride in thy sacred flame, 
but in thee there is no rest : within thy walls is no abiding 
place : in thee the soul resteth not. Thou make«t our nights to 
be weary, and darkenest the morning of our days, thou uncon- 
quered servant of our God ! Crowns cannot bind thee with a 
chain, nor princes lead thee captive in a cord. Thou defiest 
the physician, and shakest the powers of the whole earth. Thou 
causest thrones to tremble, and crowns to pass away; the young 
are in thy hands, and from thy gates the aged are not free. Thou 
art the arrows of death sent abroad into all the earth ; thou art 
the shaded space of the Almighty, no human eye can see beyond thy 
gates ; — thou art established through sin, and thy griefs are forever 
more. Man was born to die, and pay the tribute of his blood in 
thee. Thou enlargesl thy bosom as sin increases, thou gateway and 
space of all the inhabitants of the earth ! Sinners draw at thy bosom 
and are not satisfied. Mercy is beyond thy ways, and liveth when 
thy flames abate. Thou art the sinners companion by night, the 
bride of his chamber, a champion slaying all his joys. Thou art the 



35S ACTIXG PRINCIPLES OF LIFE. 

oppressing hand of God upon the children of men, as the furnace, 
purifying the soul ; the way to the house of wisdom, in thee, is the 
fear of the Lord. Thou art a light to the feet of the sinner, a burning 
lamp to his darkened mind. The Lord hath placed thee in the ways 
of all men — the saints have not entered the portals of the skies but 
by thy name. Thou art placed as a pillar in the earth that cannot 
move ; thou art the decree of God since man was made, that all souls 
may fear thy name and be saved. Thou art the terrors of life, and 
affrightest the departing soul. Thy gates are as Jordan, and all men 
pass ihee through; thou art the delay of sinners, and those that obey 
temptation abide with thee; thou art the house of the afflicted ever 
since the world began, the baptising hand of God, and the reformer of 
the soul ; — thou convinces! by pain, and convertest by thy chastising 
hand. Thy gates are open all the day, thou art ever present with 
those that sin ; he cannot turn his feet from thy gates, neither can 
wisdom lead him by. Thou art the lost city, the space of the dead ; 
in thee thy scholars are untaught to rise and come away. But there 
is one mighty in strength, and wise in direction, he hath set bounds 
to thy name : he shall lift np his voice in thee as with the sound of a 
trumpet, and all thy dead shall arise and come away ; in thy bosom 
all the inhabitants of the earth shall be converted from their sins ; 
they shall know the purpose of thy name, and bid thy gates adieu ; 
and the hand of mercy lead them to their God. Thou art the mise- 
ries of life, immortal in thy ways, and the curse that God hath placed 
on the earth ; in thy dark mansion the kindred of one blood divide, 
and a man becomes a stranger to his brother, and by thee doth curse 
his name. Beyond thy gates are the paths of peace, and the redeemed 
walk therein and see thy gates no more. 

Judgment and mercy are as twins of the Almighty : by the one he 
doth trouble for our sins, and by the other abate the consuming flame. 
These are united by his convincing and converting power, by which 
he will redeem all the inhabitants of the earth into the presence of 
one God ; and the children of this world shall be as the children of 
one father : and heaven and God, and saints and angels, dwell here 
on earth with them forever. All shall be convinced and converted 
in the flesh : the mind is the habitation of spirits, heaven and hell is 
in it, and here guilt consumes the sinful soul ; it is where the dead 
shall live, and the sinner be converted and redeemed from all his 
woes, and his soul as the living stream seeking the bosom of the 
sea, flow to his creator God, and live with him forever and enjoy 
those promised worlds that are to come, which is a conversion of the 
soul. 



INDEX 



IMPRESSIONS OF THE MIND, 



Page. 

The decrees of God 2 

The invisibility of God, 9 

Brioht are the rays of heavenly 

light, 13 

The power and virtue of the 

word of God, 14 

Keep thou, O Lord, my harp in 

tune 19 

The Lord is not in fetters, ib 

The love of God to the world,. . 26 
The vengeance of God, or the 

sorrows of sin, 29 

Let the earth hear, 33 

Humility in royal apparel, 36 

Exaltation naked to the world,. . 39 
When time to come spread out 

her wings, 42 

The blessing of God to sinners, 43 

The joys of the penitent, 46 

The mercies of God to the world, 49 
Anger of God to the world, .... 52 

Hope in mourning, 55 

Despair in distress, 59 

The life of a Redeemer in the 

mind 63 

The salvation of the world, .... 67 
The way to heaven, or the paths 

of peace, 70 

The way to misery, 74 

What is life?... 77 

What is death ) 83 

The impressions of Divine love, 90 

Deep is the mire and clay, 94 

Forbid the lion, Lord, to rage,. . 95 
The cause of trouble and f he 

cause of joy, 97 

Truth alone, 101 

The effects of trouble on the mind, 106 
The earth is full of the wonders 

of the Lord, 109 

The travels of the soul, Ill 

Wisdom's ways 115 

Chapter 1st 119 

" 2nd 125 



Page. 

Chapter 3rd, 130 

" 4th, 139 

" 5h, 145 

" 6th, 152 

To the memory of Anne Reid,. .158 

God enlarges the mind, 160 

Chapter 7th, 163 

History of the house of the Lord, 168 
The creation is made to suffer,. .172 
The creation an evidence of the 

Deity, 177 

The mind is tender as water in 

the infant frame, 181 

The former and latter dispensa- 
tions, 185 

Whosoever leaveth the paths of 

observation, 189 

The strength of the mind, 194 

The mind is a compact body,. . .197 
There is nothing more disappoint- 
ing than the mind, 201 

Extent of the mind, 206 

The Mind of the Deity, 211 

How Beautiful are the Laws of 

the Lord! 214 

The World's Evidence for a 

Deity, 219 

Life is one United Spiritual Body,220 
The Changes of the Mind, . . . .'.222 

Let the Earth Arise, 224 

Lord ! Thou art my Dwelling 

through Ages, 226 

God is Life 227 

God is Command, 231 

The Lord is in his Sanctuary,.. .234 

Who can Know the Man ? 237 

The Son of God is sent to the lost,241 
Shepherds of North America,.. .246 
The Dispensations of God to the 

World, - 251 

The Pillars of Good Government,257 

A Call to Repentance, 262 

United Colonies, 265 

Testimony to the Author, , 269 



INDEX 



A FRIEND TO BRITAIN. 



An Address to the Clergy in the Christian World, 273 

The Sanctuary of 1 he Lord, 277 

Address 'o England and Ireland, with mv best iove to the People and 

the King, 281 

Britain may hop*- in the Salvation of God, 286 

The evidences of Truth and Error, 292 

The principles of life, 298 

An Address to William IV., of Great Britain & Ireland, King, 301 

The Sorrows of the Lord 303 

The love of God to the Church of England,...., 308 



INDEX 



ACTING PRINCIPLES OF LIFE. 



Page. 

Love, 317 

Sorrow 320 

Hope, 322 

Despair 326 

Faith 329 

Immortality, 334 

Life .....337 

Death.... 340 



Page. 

Religion, 342 

Imidelity, 345 

Piety, 348 

Impiety, 350 

Light, 351 

Darkness, 354 

Mercy and Charity 355 

Judgment 357 



Toronto : J. H. Lawrence, Printer, Guardian Office. 



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■aSSS 



LQ# 168 Q7n 7, 



